CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Eight unanswered goals that spanned the third and fourth quarters helped power the MIT men's lacrosse team to a 15-7 victory over Western New England University in non-conference action on Friday night. Junior Bryce Metalios (Riverside, Conn.) generated six goals for the Engineers while first-year Logan Jenkins (Preston, Conn.) led the Bears with two goals and an assist.
 
THE BASICS:

• Score: MIT 15, Western New England 7
• Records: MIT (2-0 Overall); Western New England (1-2 Overall)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• MIT opened the game with four straight goals, highlighted by a solo effort from junior Zach Bleil (New Canaan, Conn.) that resulted in the 100^th point of his career.
• Western New England ended the shutout when Jenkins found the back of the net with 17 seconds remaining in the quarter.
• Back-to-back goals by Bleil increased the Engineers' advantage to 6-1 just over two minutes into the second stanza.
• The Bears scored three of the next four goals, closing the gap to 7-4 at halftime. Jenkins registered a goal and an assist on a strike by junior Josh Gagnon (Dracut, Mass.) while senior Griffin LaRochelle (Wilbraham, Mass.) redirected a feed from senior Zachary Mein (Latham, Mass.) for a man-up goal.
• Exactly 57 seconds into the third quarter, Metalios kicked off MIT's pivotal 8-0 run. He accounted for the first five goals with four occurring in the third period.
• First-year Riley Pierce (Vestavia, Ala.) capped the scoring for the Engineers with his first intercollegiate tally which came with 6:18 left to play.
• Senior Jack Houlden (Peabody, Mass.) ended Western New England's scoring drought at the 4:45 mark as Gagnon trimmed the deficit to 15-6. Houlden notched the final goal of the night with 41 seconds to go.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Bleil finished with four goals as he became the 37^th player in program history to record 100 points.
• Senior Nick Stiles (New Canaan, Conn.) added two goals and two assists.
• Graduate student Andrew Palleiko (Hopkinton, Mass.) won 9-of-18 faceoffs and collected three groundballs while sophomore Ashton Axe (Portola Valley, Calif.) produced five groundballs and three caused turnovers.
• In net, junior Collin Lung (Lynbrook, N.Y.) amassed 13 saves for the Engineers.
• Mein ended the night with two assists as junior Chris Catuosco (Commack, N.Y.) generated seven groundballs while going 9-of-20 in faceoffs.
• Junior Anthony Gesino (East Lyme, Conn.) posted four groundballs as junior Nathan Leone (Newton, Mass.) totaled three groundballs and two caused turnovers.
• First-year Braden Civiello (Killingworth, Conn.) made four saves in the first half while senior Jonathon Salsbury (Bel Air, Md.) collected eight saves in the second half.

UP NEXT:

• MIT will travel to Endicott College on Wednesday, March 5 for a 4:00 PM game.
• Western New England will host No. 8 Bowdoin College on Sunday, March 2 at 4:00 PM.

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