STEUBENVILLE, Ohio - March 6, 2021 - Chatham University Men's Lacrosse opened their season this afternoon with a 1 PM non-conference matchup at Franciscan University. Chatham controlled the game from the start of the first quarter, going on to win by a final score of 16-5.
Senior Adam Bleess started off the scoring for the Cougars just three minutes into the game with help from senior Justin McCloskey. Chip Bradsher scored his first goal of the season just minutes later before Michael Porreca did the same, again assisted by McCloskey. Tyler Hayes picked up a pair of consecutive assists on the next two Chatham goals by Nicholas Guaglione and Bleess. It would take Franciscan almost the entire quarter to score, and they managed just one goal.
Going into the second quarter up 5-1, the Cougars continued their offensive drive. Michael Porreca netted his second goal of the game off of an assistant from Guaglione. The Barons answered back with a goal before Adam Bleess completed his hat trick off of a pass from junior Andrew Mattingly. Nicholas Guaglione secured another goal for the Cougars to round out the quarter, taking them into the third with a five-goal lead.
Senior Daniel Napier took charge of the third quarter, scoring four uninterrupted goals in four minutes. After an unassisted first goal, Guaglione, Hayes, and Jerad Wilson tallied assists on goals two through four. Mattingly, first-year Isaac Joshi, and Bradsher would put up three more goals on the Barons in the remainder of the quarter, leaving Franciscan goalless for the entire 15 minutes.
Guaglione would finish his hat trick within the first three minutes of the final quarter with help from Porreca. Franciscan scored two more goals to give them five, which was not nearly enough to catch up to Chatham's 16.
Guaglione led the Cougars in caused turnovers for the day with four, followed by seniors Ben Neal and Jerad Wilson with three each. He also led the team in shots (13) and points (5).
Sophomore Zach Mayan won a game-high three face-offs, followed by senior Chase Baggs with two.
Junior Shane Gaglione made eight saves in the win for the Cougars.
Chatham advances to 1-0 overall while Franciscan falls to 0-3. The Cougars next face off against Bethany in another non-conference matchup in West Virginia next Saturday, March 13th, at 1 PM.
