In their home opener, the UVM Catamounts were able to put away the Marist College Red Foxes 13-9 in Men’s Lacrosse action Saturday afternoon at Moulton Winder Field.
Pacing the Cats (2-1) was senior Dan Zwirko, who scored a game-high four goals.
UVM started the game with a heavy offensive attack.
Sophomore Alex Young found Zwirko in front of the Marist net to make the score 1-0 Vermont.
Junior Andrew Holden made it 2-0 with a slick spin move, enabling him to go airborne and put the ball past Marist goalkeeper Ryan Penner.
Marist (0-2) pulled within one goal when Lou Aboyoun put it past senior goalkeeper Daryl Swarts.
Senior Sean Layton scored his first goal of the game with 3:35 left in the first quarter and freshman Brandon Goodwyn ad,ded another to make it 4-1.
The Red Foxes’ Keith Detelj made it 4-2, but was quickly answered by Zwirko, making the lead three again.
With the score 5-3 and a one man advantage for UVM, Marist midfielder Jim Wiederhold was caught looking the wrong way as he ran upfield.
Layton then proceeded to unload an impressive defensive hit on the unsuspecting Red Fox, who quickly found himself on the turf.
“I was hoping he would get the ball, and he didn’t see me coming,” Layton said. “I put him on his [butt], and it felt great.”
The Catamount bench appreciated the hit, and erupted in cheer for the high scoring midfielder.
By halftime, UVM held a 7-4 lead, with Zwirko and junior Gordon Holden contributing goals.
In the second half, senior Pete Hein scored a minute in to add to the lead.
Sophomore Andrew Kelleher fed a pass across the front of the crease to freshman Ryan Gillette, who scored the first goal of his collegiate career in the fourth quarter.
Andrew Holden, Young and Layton also scored in the second half for the Catamounts.
With the score 12-6 and less than 10 minutes remaining in the game, Marist mounted a comeback, scoring three goals in a three minute span to pull the score to 12-9.
Zwirko scored again, this time with 5.2 seconds remaining in the game, to finalize the score at 13-9.
Men’s Lacrosse plays two home games this week, Tuesday, March 6 at 2 p.m. against Holy Cross, and Saturday, March 10 at 12 p.m. against Canisius.
“For my senior year, I want to have a winning season,” Layton said.
“I definitely want to make the America East tournament, and even the NCAA tournament. Surpassing the UVM school record for victories is also a big goal.”
The UVM women’s lacrosse team lost to Canisius 13-10 in Buffalo, NY on Saturday afternoon.
The women’s team fell to 0-2 on the season, with their first loss coming against Massachusetts on Feb. 28.
The Lady Cats fell to Canisius 13-10 on Saturday, March 3 against Canisius.
“We had our opportunities today, but didn’t completely execute our game plan,” said Vermont head coach Jen Johnson. Women’s lacrosse has a home game on Wednesday, March 7 at 3 p.m. against Siena.
