Tournament Central  |  Hope-Albion box score  

Hope 6, Albion 5

A 3-1 fourth quarter in Hope's favor proved to be the difference in the lowest scoring MIAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament Championship game in conference history Saturday evening, as Hope defeated Albion 6-5 to earn the MIAA's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship.

Trailing 4-2 in the third quarter, Hope's Rocco Mularoni scored the first of two key goals in the second half with 5:37 left in the third. Mularoni then scored with 10:03 on the clock in the fourth, which gave the Flying Dutchmen their first lead since early in the first quarter.

The contest featured four ties and three lead changes, and neither team led by more than two goals.

In the defense-focused contest, Albion's Trevor McManus made 19 saves - good for third-most in MIAA Tournament history, after making 20 stops in Albion's semifinal win over Alma May 1. Hope's Nick Schanhals made 11 saves on 16 shots faced to earn the win.

Hope (13-3) had nine different players contribute offensively with either a goal or an assist, with Mularoni's two goals leading the Flying Dutchmen.

Albion (8-9) had a pair of two-goal efforts on the night, from Alec Palmer and Scott Shepard.