THE BASICS:

- Score: Lasell College 12, MIT 10

- Records: MIT (0-1); Lasell College (1-0)

- Location: Newton, Mass. (Grellier Field)

- The Lead: In the 2019 season opener, Lasell College scored five goals in the fourth quarter to overcome an 8-7 deficit as the MIT men's lacrosse team dropped a 12-10 final to the Lasers on Wednesday afternoon. 

HOW IT HAPPENED:

- The teams came out of the first quarter tied at 4-4 as junior Jack Strachan (Moresville, N.C.) scored twice for MIT and Colby Buccheri scored a man-up goal for the Lasers. The Engineers took a 4-2 lead with 3:48 left in the period before Lasell's Mike Susi and Andrew Fidalgo found the back of the net to tie the game after one.

- The Engineers controlled the second quarter with a 3-0 advantage that included Strachan's third goal, a man-up score by sophomore Mark Heatzig (Boca Raton, Fla.) and the second unassisted goal of the contest by sophomore Oliver Heins (Fair Haven, N.J.).

- After halftime, Lasell's James Anderson pulled the Lasers within 7-5 as the hosts outscored MIT 3-1 in the third and climbed to within one at 8-7.

- The fourth quarter was dominated by Lasell as the Lasers got goals from four different players to spark a 5-0 run in the period (and 7-0 overall) to seize a convincing 12-8 advantage with 2:03 left in the game. Fidalgo scored twice in the quarter for the Lasers to complete the hat trick as he also added an assist on a man-up goal to close the third. Strachan scored twice within 29 seconds to close the game for the Engineers to account for the 12-10 final and end the game with a five-goal effort. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- Strachan ended the game with a career-high five goals and one assist to pace the Engineer offense as Heins added two goals. In addition, both Heatzig and senior Jake Stein (Vienna, Va.) posted a goal and an assist. 

- For Lasell, both Fidalgo and Buccheri both finished with hat tricks to go along with two goals from Max Litchfield.

- In goal, first-year Connor Kaminska (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) made 11 saves for MIT in the loss, while Ryan Janovic made seven saves and Alex Beauchemin made three stops in the second half and picked up the victory.

- MIT held a convincing 21-4 advantage in faceoffs won behind a 16-of-19 effort by sophomore Luke Gianni (Henderson, Nev.). In addition, senior Mitchell Galer (Westlake Village, Calif.) was 5-for-6 in faceoffs.

- The Engineers were 13-for-16 in clear attempts, while Lasell converted 22-of-26 clear chances. MIT also held a 39-22 edge in ground balls and outshot the Lasers 45-32. 

UP NEXT:

- MIT returns to action on Saturday, March 2nd as the Engineers travel to RPI for a non-conference game beginning at 3 p.m.

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