The UVM men’s lacrosse team captured their second win on home turf last Saturday, downing the Merrimack Warriors with a final score of 20-8. Saturday’s win was Vermont’s strongest offensive showing since last April, when they trounced UMass Lowell 21-3.

The Cats claimed an early lead thanks to senior midfielder Griffin Fenech, who outmaneuvered his defender just over two minutes into the first quarter. The Warriors responded almost immediately when midfielder Kasey Mongillo evened the score.

Vermont jumped right back into the lead with a flurry of offense that began with sophomore midfielder Tristan Whitaker’s ninth goal of the year, which placed him with the fourth most goals on the team.

Whitaker stayed busy, claiming an assist on first-year midfielder Luke Reiter’s goal just a minute later to secure a 3-1 lead for the Catamounts. Reiter doubled his output with a second consecutive goal, this time unassisted just prior to a media timeout.

The Cats kept putting the ball in Merimack’s net, notching six more goals in the first half alone to secure a ten point lead going into the break. Among those who scored were first-year attacker Max Frattaroli with a hat trick, and graduate attacker Brock Haley.

In the final minutes of the first half, Whitaker buried his second goal of the affair into the net, and first-year midfielder Finn O’Hara nabbed the first goal of his collegiate career just before the buzzer.

Frattaroli secured his second goal of the afternoon in the opening minutes of second half play, and notched his third goal of the game for his own hat trick just five minutes later.

With a comfortable 12 point lead, the Catamounts completed their offensive work for the afternoon when sophomore attacker Lee Butler notched his first collegiate goal to cap Vermont’s score at 20.

Saturday’s performance was a positive sign for a Vermont men’s team that currently possess a 4-6 overall record, but has managed to go 2-1 in their all-important conference matchups. The Cats will welcome Binghamton to Virtual Field for the first time this upcoming Saturday, April 6.