Early Lead Lifts #16/18 Black Knights

Saturday, March 26

Hamilton, N.Y.

1 PM

Army West Point

7-2, 4-0

Colgate

3-6, 1-3

Army

Colgate

Early Lead Lifts #16/18 Black Knights

March 26, 2016 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

HAMILTON, N.Y. – The No. 16/18 Army West Point lacrosse team steamed out to a 7-2 lead in the first half and hung on to defeat Colgate, 11-7, in Patriot League action on Saturday at Andy Kerr Stadium.

The Black Knights (7-2, 4-0 PL) was led by Cole Johnson with another huge game with seven points on three goals and four assists. He has at least six points in his last five games for a total of 35 points. Jimbo Moore chipped in with three points and tied a career high with two goals. Conor Glancy recorded two goals in the win as well.

Army was incredible at moving the ball to beat the zone as eight of the 11 goals scored were assisted.

"I was really impressed on how we handled the zone defense," said head coach Joe Alberici. "We had very good and crisp ball movement to start with and then we shot the ball well when we got those opportunities. Really proud of how our offense played."

The Black Knights had to battle in faceoffs as they came out with 12 wins on 21 chances. Alex Daly won 7-of-10 draws, while Dan Grabher had five wins in 11 chances.

AJ Barretto stopped 11 shots and looked really good in the second half with six stops. The 11 saves tied a career high, which he has down three times this year. Defensively, Army didn't cause a lot of turnovers, but forced Colgate into some tough situations.

"Defensively we were really good," said Alberici. "We had a few more possessions against us since we had been accustomed to be dominant on the faceoff. That was a bit more a split, but we still got our fair share. We were able to be up to the task defensively I thought."

The Black Knights have won their first four games of league play for the first time since 2010.

Colgate (3-6, 1-3 PL) was led by Tyler Rigo with four points on three goals and an assist, while Anthony Abbedessa finished with two points on a goal and an assist. Chase Wittich ended up with two goals as well. Brandon Burke equaled Barretto's effort in net with 11 saves in the loss. The Raiders scored three goals through the first three quarters, but dominated parts of the final frame, outscoring the Black Knights 4-1.

"I give Colgate a lot of credit," Alberici added. "They played hard right to the end and tested us, when we needed to step up and make some quality and intelligent plays."

Army couldn't have asked for a better start to the game with three goals in the first 4:28 of the game. After Burke made a save on the first shot, the Black Knights put up three goals in a matter of minutes. Nate Jones got Army on the board after a Barretto save on the other end. He set up from the right side and received the ball from Johnson and beat Burke for the first goal. Ted Glesener followed with a man-up goal and then Avery Littlejohn made it 3-0 with 10:42 on the clock.

The Black Knights finished with two of the final three goals of the quarter with Connor Cook scoring his first of the day with 7:18 left. After Sam Cleveland put the Raiders on the scoreboard, Moore ripped his seventh of the year with one second on the clock in the quarter.

The Raiders cut the lead down to 5-2 at the beginning of the second quarter with Rigo scoring after they won the draw. The scoring slow down a bit in the second frame as Glancy scored both goals for the Black Knights and they took a 7-2 lead into halftime.

The momentum for the Black Knights continued into the third quarter with Army scoring three in a row and jumped ahead to a 10-2 lead with 6:36 left. Moore scored his second of the game with 12:49 left in the third and then Johnson fired home two-straight in a span of 28 seconds. Rigo stopped the bleeding with his second of the contest to send the game into the final quarter with Army leading 10-3.

Rigo's goal light a fire under the Raiders as they fired home four-straight in the four quarter to cut the Army lead down to 10-7. Rigo scored his second in a row to start the quarter, while Abbadessa sliced the lead down to 10-5. Wittich continued the run with two-consecutive goals to make it three-goal game at 10-7. However, Daly, who has split a lot of time at the faceoff this season, came up huge with a win that resulted in Johnson's third goal of the game and Army came away with the 11-7 win.

The Black Knights ended up outshooting the Raiders, 40-34, and had a 30-23 advantage in ground balls. Each team had one failed clear and a man-up tally.

"Terrific teams around the country always say that when you go on the road, you have to be tougher," Alberici said. "I thought our guys showed a lot of toughness today, both mentally and physically."

Army is back in action next Saturday in the Army-Bucknell Game presented by IAP. The opening faceoff is set for 12 p.m. at Michie Stadium. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online at GoArmyWestPoint.com/tickets, by calling 1-877-TIX-ARMY or at Gate 3 at the stadium.

Game Notes: This was the 40th meeting between Army and Colgate since the team's first met in 1923 … This is the sixth meeting between the head coaches after Colgate's coach Mike Murphy was an assistant under Joe Alberici for seven seasons … the series between the two is now tied at 3-3 … Army has held seven of its nine opponents to single digits … the Black Knights are 1-1 on television this season … Army has scored in double digits in six games and five in a row … Cole Johnson has 35 points in his last five games … Army was on television for the second time this season after playing then No. 3 Syracuse on Feb. 28 … The Black Knights are now 2-1 on the road this year.