Box Score GEORGETOWN, TX – The Alfred University men's lacrosse team (2-1, Empire 8 0-0) earned its second win of the season, toppling Trine University 9-5 at Southwestern University during its Spring Break opener in Texas.
 
Junior Joe Fornataro (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) paced the Saxons with four goals in the game while senior Jake Lynch (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) and junior Anthony Ricottilli (Cortland, NY/Cortland) added two goals each. Senior attack Allen Vitale (Rochester, NY/Brighton) rounded out the scoring for AU.
 
Sophomore Shane Weber (Hull, MA/Hull) set a new personal best with six caused turnovers in the game. Fellow sophomore defensemen Ben Cafolla (Seneca Fall, NY/Mynderse Academy) continued the terror on the defense with four caused turnovers. The Saxons wrapped up the game with 16 total caused turnovers.
 
Fornataro opened the scoring in the game with only 4:30 wasted off the clock. Trine answered back to knot the game up before Fornataro found twine two more times. Lynch added another goal with 25 seconds left in the opening quarter to give AU the 4-1 lead. Lynch scored the lone goal in the second quarter to give the Saxons a 5-1 cushion heading into the intermission.
 
The Thunder attempted to mount a comeback, rattling off three consecutive goals to the open the half before Ricottilli shut down the run with 4:58 to go in the third. Fornataro scored his fourth goal of the game six seconds later before Ricottilli added another to wrap up the third quarter scoring.
 
Vitale scored AU's final goal with 1:08 left of the clock when sophomore Jake McNaney (Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post) found him in front of the net.
 
Sophomore Garrette Briggs (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) shattered his previous personal best (9) with 13 groundballs in the game. He also was perfect at the face-off "X" going 18-for-18 against the competition. It was the best faceoff performance by a Saxon since Jimmy Pratti '17 won all 20 face-offs against SUNY Canton in the 2017 opener.
 
Senior David LaSpina (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) racked up six groundballs in the game.
 
"Briggs was excellent at the faceoff 'X' and was able to give us a ton of possessions. Him paired with LaSpina translated into offensive opportunities that we needed," Head Coach Jason Lockner said. "Joe [Fornataro] also had a great game for us out there."
 
Senior Drew Gardner (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) played the entire game in goal for the Saxons, accumulating 10 saves on 15 shots faced.
 
AU held an advantage in shots (39-25), groundballs (45-18), shots on goal (24-15) and caused turnovers (16-8).
 
 Lockner added, "It was a great win, but we need to strive to play a full four quarters consistently. Our defense played great today and we will look forward to them continuing to play that strong, physical style on Wednesday against Southwestern."
 
The Saxons return to the field on Wednesday to take on Southwestern University at 7PM (CST).