DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – The Arcadia University men's lacrosse team got into the win column for the first time this season after defeating host Delaware Valley University in the 2017 edition of the Battle for the Bucks-Mont Hammer by a final count of 9-8.
 
FOR THE RECORD: The Knights improved to 1-3 with their first victory of the season, while the Aggies fell to 1-2.
 
BUCKS-MONT HAMMER HISTORY: The was just the second-ever meeting between the two teams in the Battle for the Bucks-Mont Hammer, and marks Arcadia's first win the challenge series. Delaware Valley won the inaugural meeting last season 11-9 at Arcadia.  
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: This was a back-and-forth affair all game long. The Knights trailed 2-1 in the first quarter before sophomore Nick Ferraro scored off a feed from freshman Austin Williams to start a three-goal run that put Arcadia in front 4-2. Fellow freshman Ryan Mahon scored 1:29 into the second quarter off a pass from Williams and classmate Clo Muscara followed with a man-up goal 5:15 into the period.
 
The Knights led 5-3 at the half, but were held scoreless in the third quarter while P.J. Rafferty and Chris Coyle found the back of the net for the Aggies to tie the game at 5-5. Arcadia answered by scoring each of the first three goals in the fourth, a run that started with a man-up goal for Ferraro 12 seconds in and ended with a goal from senior Ryan O'Leary three and a half minutes later to put the Knights up 8-5. Muscara then scored what proved to be the game-winner with a man-advantage off a feed from freshman Tanner Pajakinas with 8:24 left in the game. The Knights also had a little luck on their side as an Aggies' miscue resulted in a rare own goal during that run.
 
DelVal nearly came back to tie the game as Coyle scored each of the team's three fourth quarter goals. His first made it 8-6 with 9:29 left and he scored each of the final two goals in the game for the 9-8 final, the last of which came with 4:05 remaining on the clock. The Aggies had a golden opportunity tie get the equalizer after going man-up with 1:42 left, but all three shots were off target with the extra attacker.
 
IN GOAL: Sophomore Danny Lipkin picked up the win in goal for the Knights after recording 12 saves, moving his record to 1-3. Nic Brown had just six saves in the loss for the Aggies, dropping his record to 1-1.
 
ARCADIA LEADERS: Muscara scored three goals and assisted on another with picking up four groundballs for the Knights. Ferraro finished with two goals and two groundballs, while Williams finished with a game-high three assists. Freshman Conor Cunningham was 10 for 16 on faceoffs and also picked up four groundballs.
 
DELAWARE VALLEY LEADERS: Coyle scored a game-high four goals after taking 15 of the Aggies 19 shots in the game. Rafferty finished with two goals and one assist, while Bryan Thompson was 8 of 19 on faceoffs with three groundballs. Danny Smith had game-high totals of seven groundballs and three caused turnovers.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: DelVal outshot Arcadia 39-23 in the game, but held a much narrower 20-15 advantage in shots on goal. Arcadia had a 33-25 advantage on groundballs and was 2 for 6 with the man advantage, while the Aggies were 1 for 6 with the extra attacker.