-- Story provided by Albion College Athletics --
ALBION – See you in New York.
With an 11-6 win over the University of Dubuque, the Albion College men's lacrosse team advances to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. The Britons held the lead for the entire game, led by six points from Jace Conley.
Conley scored four goals and assisted on two. Sophomore Ethan Rottell added three assists to his team-best mark this season.
Three minutes into the game, senior Grant Chaffee made sure to extend his season with a goal off a pass from Conley. The game would remain at 1-0 for the remainder of the first quarter.
Remaining a low-scoring affair, the Brits capitalized on the lone man-up opportunity of the contest just a few minutes into the second quarter. Sam Puzevic netted his first of two goals, doubling the Albion lead.
Albion's final goal of the half came off an unassisted strike by Conley.
Dubuque finally got on the board with 2:47 before the break, bringing the score to 3-1 in favor of the hosts. The score would hold through halftime.
The Britons used a 4-0 run to build a 7-1 lead in the third. In that stretch, Conley scored a pair of goals with assists by Eddie Symons and Rottell. Freshman Brendan Mercier got on the board for his first NCAA postseason goal, before Timmy Salinas rounded out the scoring for the period. A Spartan goal saw the score move to 7-2 Brits after three.
In the fourth, Dubuque started the period with two quick goals to cut the Britons lead to three.
Salinas had an immediate response to push the Albion lead back to four goals. A minute later, Conley tacked on another unassisted goal for a 9-4 Briton advantage.
Keegan Pastor's first postseason goal vaulted Albion to a 10-4 lead with 6:29 to play. Puzevic put the nail in the coffin with five minutes on the clock, securing Albion's spot in the next round.
Defensively, Joey Tatar and Will Tessin each caused three turnovers. Sophomore Gage Thrall picked up seven ground balls.
Senior captain Gerald Haadsma was 12 of 18 at the faceoff X, picking up 10 ground balls in the win.
Jack Gogonis (9-0) made 11 saves for the Brits.
Albion held a significant edge in the ground ball game, totaling 43 compared to Dubuque's 25.
This is Albion's first NCAA Tournament win since 2015, a 13-12 win over Augustana.
On Saturday, Albion will travel to RIT to take on the defending National Champions. Game time against the Tigers will be at noon, held on RIT's campus.
