Johnson Leads Black Knights Past Lafayette

Saturday, March 5

Easton, PA

12 PM

Army West Point

3-2, 1-0

Lafayette

1-3, 0-2

Army West Point

Lafayette

Johnson Leads Black Knights Past Lafayette

March 05, 2016 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

EASTON, Pa. – Junior Cole Johnson had a career day against Lafayette with seven points on six goals and an assist to lead Army over the Leopards, 14-5, in its Patriot League opener on Saturday at Fisher Stadium.

Army (3-2, 1-0 PL) also got a hat trick from rookie Nate Jones, while Dan Grabher found the net twice in the win. Jimbo Moore and Connor Cook chipped in with two points on a goal and assist each. Patrick O'Brien scored his first collegiate goal in the fourth quarter, while four different Army goalies saw action.

Paul Newbold was the starting goalie and made two saves in the first quarter, while AJ Barretto came in for two-plus quarters and stopped five shots and allowed only one goal. Matt Isnardi and Jackson Tamasitis earned time in front of the cage in the final quarter.

The defense did a great job holding Jason Sands scoreless as he entered the game as one of the top scorers in the league. The ride was excellent by the Black Knights as they forced Lafayette into eight unsuccessful clears. Reaves Klipstein led the way on the defensive end with four ground balls and three caused turnovers.

Grabher and Alex Daly dominated in faceoffs, helping Army to 17 wins on 22 chances. Grabher was 8-of-10, while Daly won 6-of-8. John Ragno came into the game in the fourth quarter and won three faceoffs on four chances.

Lafayette (1-3, 0-2 PL) saw Eric Joseph lead the way with two goals, while Matt Close, Keegan Hickey and Charles McCooe also got on the board for the home team. Ben Falcone played the entire game in net for the Leopards and stopped 13 shots.

The first half was the Johnson show as he outscored Lafayette himself with five goals and an assist for six points and Army had a 10-2 lead going into the half.

The Leopards got the first lead of the game on a goal from Close, but Army responded by scoring seven of the next eight goals and took a 7-2 advantage into the second quarter. Johnson led the way with a hat trick, while Grabher and Cook added to the lead with tallies. Grabher's came on a faceoff win after Lafayette took the early 1-0 lead. Jones continued his hot start on the season with a pair of goals in the first quarter as well.

The Black Knights scored three times in the second quarter to make it a 10-2 game at the break. Johnson scored his fourth of the day, just 25 seconds into the frame to push the lead to 8-2. Moore got on the scoresheet after a Lafayette turnover. He was able to get a quick restart and charged down the middle of the field and no one picked him up and he buried it. Johnson finished off the scoring in the first half with his fifth of the game with 2:16 left in the second frame.

Army continued its momentum into the third quarter with Grabher scoring on the opening faceoff of the second half to net his second of the day to make it an 11-2 game. However, that was the lone goal of the entire third for both teams.

The scoring picked back up in the final quarter with Jones getting the hat trick 35 seconds into the frame to give Army a 12-2 lead. Lafayette ended their scoring drought that lasted two-plus quarters as Keegan Hickey scored with 11:46 remaining. The teams traded goals down the stretch with Johnson scoring his sixth and O'Brien adding his first career goal at the 1:58 mark. Joseph finished the game with his second of the day and Army earned the 14-5 win.

The Black Knights had a 53-23 shot advantage and picked up 40 ground balls to 31 for the Leopards. Army was successful on 11-of-12 clears and was held scoreless on five man-up chances.

The Black Knights are back in league play next Saturday with a visit from Lehigh for a 12 p.m. faceoff at Michie Stadium.

Game Notes: Johnson's six goals are the most by an Army player since John Glesener '15 had six against Boston University last season … Army remains undefeated against the Leopards in the all-time series at 35-0 and it was the 13th win in Easton for the Black Knights … head coach Joe Alberici won his 94th career game as a head coach … the Black Knights have held three of their first five opponents to five or less goals and four of the five have not reached double digits … the 53 shots were a season high as well as the 40 ground balls … the 12 caused turnovers were also a season high.