FREDERICK, MD – The Alfred University men's lacrosse team ended its spring break training trip with a 15-14 victory over The College at Wooster on Saturday evening at Hood College.
 
The go-ahead scoring drive was put together after Wooster's Alexander Bloom tallied an unassisted goal with 3:49 remaining in the game, giving the Scots a 14-13 lead. Sophomore attack Joe Fornataro (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) evened the score at 2:51 when he put in a sneaky, unassisted low shot past Wooster's Wesley Wagner. The Saxons (3-2) got the winning nod when senior Brett McMichael (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan) found Fornataro who once again, sneaked the shot by the goalie, almost unnoticed.
 
Wooster made one final push to force the extra period when Ian Brim attempted to score on junior goalie, Chris Bucciarelli (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) with 16 seconds left but the transfer keeper made the save. Wooster quickly regained possession off a failed clear attempt by the Saxons and placed the ball in the stick of their top scorer on the day, Bloom, who made one last shot on goal that resulted in a Bucciarelli save and the Saxon win.
 
Fornataro led AU on the day with eight points from a double hat-trick and also two assists. He was joined by nine other Saxons who recorded points on the day. Senior Derek Bishopp (Livonia, NY/Livonia) had five points from three assists and two scores while junior Jake Lynch (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) recorded two from two goals and two helpers.
 
McMichael had two assists, sophomore Frank Gavigan (Yorktown, NY/Yorktown) recorded his first multi-point contest in his collegiate career with one goal and his first assist and senior Nick Skibitsky (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville East) tallied two goals.
 
Senior Rob Ensmenger (Old Bethpage, NY/Plainview – Old Bethpage), senior Matt Zandri (Baldwinsville, NY/Baldwinsville), junior David LaSpina (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) and junior Samuel DiRisio (Prattsburgh, NY/Penn Yan) all earned one point. LaSpina and DiRisio scored goals while Ensmenger and Zandri assisted on other goals.
 
Defensively, Alfred University was led by Gavigan in caused turnovers with three. In terms of gathering ground balls, AU was led by senior Jimmy Pratti (Slatehill, NY/Minisink Valley) who had seven as well as a game-high 14 faceoff wins (out of his 19 attempts). As a team, the Saxons topped Wooster in ground balls (38-34) and faceoffs (22-of-32).
 
Bucciarelli played in goal for the entire 60 minutes, making 15 saves.
 
The Saxons will next host Baldwin Wallace University on Saturday, March 18 at 1:00 pm.