WORCETSER, Mass. – Junior Justin Bokmeyer scored a career-high four goals as the Army lacrosse team defeated Holy Cross, 9-5, Tuesday night in the Patriot League opener for both teams.
The Black Knights, ranked 13th in the USILA Coaches Poll, led 4-1 at halftime and opened up the game with three third-period goals.
Paul Wigdzinski added his first multiple-goal game with two scores as Army improved to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in league play. Jason Peyer, Kevin LoRusso and Brandon Butler rounded out the scoring while Ryan Chase added a pair of assists.
Army was coming off an emotional win in the Carrier Dome Friday and used strong midfield play and excellent play in the cage to win its third straight.
Goalie Adam Fullerton faced 35 shots and made a career-high 18 saves. Holy Cross did not score its second goal until there was less than 12 minutes left in the game.
“We played very hard in adverse conditions,” Army coach Joe Alberici said. “We traveled on a Tuesday, in February, in the snow, to a conference game against a good, improving Holy Cross team that didn’t have any quit in them. Credit Holy Cross, they played tough and made us earn our goals on offense. This was a hard-fought win. Our guys spent a lot of emotion on Friday in Syracuse and I was very proud that they were able to come back on a short couple of days ready to play and to get a win on the road.”
Holy Cross, now 1-2 overall and 0-1 in league play, jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Edison Parsanese scored the first of his four goals with nine minutes left in the first quarter.
Bokmeyer scored two straight goals, the second on an assist from Chase, to put the Black Knights ahead to stay.
Butler, a freshman, followed with the first goal of his career, off of a Brooks Korvin assist. Bokmeyer finished his outstanding day with two more scores, the second coming with nine minutes left in the third quarter.
Wigdzinski then scored both of his goals, seven minutes apart, for a 7-1 lead after three quarters. LoRusso scored following two more Parsanese goals and Peyer closed the game with an unassisted goal with 18 seconds left.
“I was very happy with our defensive end, holding them to one goal through three quarters was very good,” Alberici said. “We showed a nice improvement in faceoffs (winning 13 of 18) and Adam remained outstanding in cage. I was also pleased with our midfield: any time we can get eight goals from our midfield it’s a good night.”
Fullerton, now 3-0 on the season in goal, followed up a 16-save effort against then-No. 2 ranked Syracuse, with 18. He made three saves in the first, five in the second, six in the third and four in the fourth quarter.
Army is now 3-0 and will return to Michie Stadium for a 1 p.m. Patriot League game Saturday against Lafayette.
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