Score: Elmira College 11, Houghton College 10
Records: Elmira (1-7, 1-3 E8), Houghton (1-10, 0-4 E8)
Location: Houghton, N.Y. -- Burke Field

HOUGHTON, N.Y. -- The Elmira College men's lacrosse team scored a season-high 11 goals, including the game-winner inside the final minute by Seth Amstein '19, as the Soaring Eagles edged Houghton College 11-10 for their first win of the season.

EC opened the Empire 8 Conference contest by netting the first four goals to snag an early lead. Jacob Magnoli '18 buried the first pair past Houghton goalie Bryce Bellan to kick off what resulted in a career performance. The fourth-year midfielder entered the game with just three career points to his name but matched that total with his first-ever hat trick before the end of the first quarter. The Harwinton, Connecticut, native went on to lead all scorers with a game-high five goals, the most by a Soaring Eagle since Anthony LaRusso '17 recorded six in last season's win over the Highlanders.

Nevin Olney '18 and Kevin DiMagno '20 capped Elmira's 4-0 first-quarter run with one goal apiece, and Magnoli's hat-trick goal allowed the Purple and Gold to carry a 5-2 advantage into the second stanza. The Soaring Eagles maintained four-goal leads in the second quarter, the latter by a 7-3 advantage following DiMagno's second score of the afternoon.

Houghton made things interesting by finished the first half with three unanswered tallies within the final one-and-a-half minutes. Two of those goals were recorded by Jonathan Mayer, who tied for the team lead with four points (3g-1a) in the contest.

Colby Runk '18 found the back of the net for the second time to open the scoring in the second half and elevate the Soaring Eagles to an 8-6 lead,  but the Highlanders scored the next two goals to draw the score even at 8-all. In the fourth quarter, Magnoli twice gave Elmira the lead, but Houghton's Cole Chapman countered on both occasions to level the score.

After Chapman's goal with approximately two minutes remaining in regulation, the Soaring Eagles earned a vital faceoff win by DiMagno to gain possession. Although the first shot of the possession was saved and the second bounced high over the net, Amstein came up with the game-winner with just 56 seconds remaining. He received a pass on the right-wing side of the field, spun around Houghton defender Thomas Woodward and crashed the net before depositing his only goal of the game.

On the other end of the field, first-year goalie Jacob Mattice '21 made a tremendous save on a low shot, as he dropped to his knees to deny Mayer on a point-blank shovel shot just in front of the crease.

In Their Own Words…
Head Coach Preston Chapman when asked about Saturday's win over Houghton…
"The guys stuck together and gutted it out. We played a great first quarter, but couldn't maintain it in the second. It was back-and-forth for the entire second half."

Coach Chapman on Jacob Magnoli's five-goal outburst...
"His shot selection was good all day. I think he had five goals on maybe eight or nine shots."

Coach Chapman when asked if anything special was drawn up for the final offensive possession...
"Nothing specific. We had a couple of shots that missed the cage, then Seth buried the game-winner in the bottom left corner."

News and Notes

• Elmira improved to 1-7 on the season and 1-3 in Empire 8 play.
• The Soaring Eagles are 6-0 all-time against the Highlanders.
• 11 goals mark a season high for EC, while the 10 goals allowed are the second-fewest this year.
• Magnoli led all players with a career-high five goals.
• Olney registered his third multi-point game of the year with three points (1g-2a).
• DiMagno (2g) and Runk (2g) each posted the first multi-goal games of their career.
• DiMagno also scooped up a career-high 11 ground balls.
• Amstein's goal was the third of his junior campaign and his first-ever game-winning goal.

Up Next
The Soaring Eagles return home to host Stevens Institute of Technology in Empire 8 action on Wednesday, April 18, at 4:00 p.m.