ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's lacrosse team will continue the non-conference portion of the 2017 schedule with a road bout against Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, March 19. The opening faceoff is slated for 1:00 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
The Purple and Gold were defeated in their home opener on Sunday, March 5, by the Wolves of Keuka College, 15-4. Despite the one-sided final score, the first 15 minutes of action were fairly even. After EC took a one-goal lead on a tally from Nevin Olney '19, Keuka scored twice to take a 2-1 advantage into the second quarter. However, those two goals were just the beginning of a 9-0 run that extended into the second half, which allowed the visitors to take a commanding 9-1 lead en route to the victory. Elmira was led offensively by Anthony LaRusso '17 and Olney, who each had one goal and one assist for two points. Freshman David Keisler '20 and junior Colby Runk '18 were responsible for EC's other two goals, each of which went down as the first of their respective careers. In goal, Cameron Prior '17 finished with 19 rejections in just over 54 minutes of playing time.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS
As expected heading into the 2017 season, returning attackers LaRusso, Olney and Wyatt Katsos '17 have established themselves as the team's best scoring threats. The trio accounts for over 72 percent of EC's point total through the first two games of the year, and is led by Olney with four goals and one assist for five points. The junior from Irondequoit, New York, tied a single-game career high with a hat trick in the season opener against Neumann. Both LaRusso (3g-1a) and Katsos (2g-2a) have accumulated four points through the first two contests.

DONATO'S DEFENSE
Although Donato Cipriano '20 came off of the bench last time out against Keuka, the first-year defenseman had a strong outing in just the second game of his collegiate career. The Glen Cove, New York, native caused a team-leading four turnovers and hauled in five ground balls against the Wolves. On the young season, Cipriano has caused 3.00 turnovers per game and ranks second in the Empire 8 Conference in that category.

SERIES HISTORY
Sunday's tilt between the Soaring Eagles and Mules will mark the first ever between the two programs. Of all the teams on Elmira's schedule for this season, Muhlenberg is the only one that EC hasn't already faced in a previous year.

SCOUTING THE MULES
Muhlenberg, a member of the Centennial Conference, began the 2017 season with three consecutive losses, the most recent to Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham by a 12-9 score on March 2. Last time out on March 8, however, the Mules picked up a 14-6 victory over Moravian.  While the team ranks second-to-last in the conference with 8.00 goals per game, Muhlenberg has increased its scoring output with each game played this season, improving from four goals in the season opener to the 14 netted in its lone victory. The offense is buoyed by attackman Brad D'Alessandro, who had one of the most successful seasons in team history as a junior. D'Alessandro set a program record for points in a season with 43, which included 31 goals, tied for the second-most in a single season by a Mule. As a result, he was named an All-Centennial Conference Honorable Mention selection. Through the first four games of his senior campaign, D'Alessandro, a team captain, leads Muhlenberg in goals (9), assists (3) and points (12).

Up Next
The Soaring Eagles return to action on Saturday, March 25, as Elmira travels to Rochester, New York, for its 2017 Empire 8 Conference opener against Nazareth College. Faceoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Nazareth's Golden Flyer Stadium.