Pace Paw Print

Media Credit: Alex Pandolfi

March 7, Pleasantville- The Pace lacrosse team opened its season on unusual turf. Rather than playing their home game on Pace Field, the Setters played their first game on the grounds of Pleasantville High School.

Unfortunately, the change of venue was not an advantage for the Setters as they lost to Seton Hill, 6-5, when freshman Joel Zalesky punched in the game winning goal with less than three minutes remaining.

Junior T.J. Urban led the Setters by coming off the bench and scoring two goals on three shots and also assisted a goal. Senior Ben Volen helped Pace with two assists.

Aside from the game winning goal, Zalesky notched another goal earlier in the game, leading the Griffins with two goals.

Seton Hill started the game off by controlling the momentum. It led to senior Chris Horigan scoring a goal on the game's first shot, giving the Griffins an early 1-0 lead.

Within the next minute, senior Ryan Gregory would strike right back, putting the Setters on the board and tying the game at one.

After the shot by Gregory, the Setters would only execute one more shot on Seton Hill goalie Corey Struss before the end of the first quarter.

The lack of offense from Pace gave Seton Hill an opportunity to take control of the lead once again. With six minutes remaining in the opening quarter, some quick passing by the Griffins ended up tricking Pace goalie Timothy Matheis, which opened up the shot for sophomore Will Robbins that gave Seton Hill a 2-1 lead.

At the start of the second quarter, with Pace's bench starting to get louder and more into the game, their offense started to click.

Better ball control was displayed by the Setters and they were moving it across the field a lot more strategically. It was truly shown when Urban scored his first goal of the game to tie the score once again at two.

Just as the Setters caught up, the Griffins were there to take the lead right back. Two minutes later, junior Shawn Fink punched in another goal for Seton Hill for a 3-2 lead.

With less than four minutes remaining in the second quarter, Urban helped the Setters once more by scoring his second goal, tying the game at three going into halftime.

There was a complete difference between Pace's offense in the first and second quarters. The Setters only had two shots on goal in the first quarter. In the second quarter, they were able to fire off 14 shots at the goal.

Going into the third quarter tied, the Setters were hoping to take their first lead of the game. Pace was able to get six shots on goal within the first six minutes of the third quarter, but failed to capitalize on their possessions.

Instead, Zalesky was able to capitalize on two Pace penalties with the extra man opportunities, when he fired in his first goal of the game, giving the Griffins their fourth lead of the game.

The Setters gained a few more opportunities to score, but failed to take advantage of the possessions.

With one minute remaining in the third quarter, junior Ben Petchel was able to extend Seton Hill's lead to 5-3 before entering the game's final quarter.

Entering the fourth quarter, Pace had some ground to make up on Seton Hill.

Sophomore Joseph Clark helped shorten the deficit by scoring a goal early in the fourth quarter.

Pace now had possession of the ball and got off four shots in an attempt to tie the game up once again. The fifth time was the charm in this case, after a shot from sophomore James Hammel tied the game for the Setters, in hopes of gaining some momentum.

Unfortunately the momentum ended up on the side of Seton Hill. It took six shots on goal, but with a little over two minutes in the game, Zalesky scored Seton Hill's game winning goal.

The Setters wouldn't go down fighting, as with time running out sophomore Justin Page launched a shot at the goal that went wide, giving sealing the win for the Griffins.

The loss for the Setters starts their season off at 0-1. The win for the Griffins, meanwhile, improves their record to 3-1.

The next home game for Pace Lacrosse will be on March 22 at 1 p.m. against Southern New Hampshire in their first conference game of the season.

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