COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The No. 9 Ursinus College men's lacrosse team led for all but six seconds in a clash of nationally ranked foes on Saturday, riding an early wave to a 13-9 victory over No. 20 Christopher Newport.
Rei Lopez scored off the opening faceoff for the Bears, who are off to a 4-0 start for the second consecutive season. Hakan Atillasoy netted three of his game-high four tallies in the first half, part of an early blitz that saw Ursinus through a patchy second stanza and past a ranked opponent for the second time this year.
Lopez was dominant in his first action as the primary faceoff man, going 16-for-24 in the circle and racking up nine ground balls to help the home side control large swaths of possession. It started immediately too, with a clean win leading directly to his second career goal a mere six ticks into the contest.
Ben Minardi scored just 90 seconds later, shaking his defender before firing a bouncing shot into the cage. Atillasoy got underneath with a nice roll and slipped one past All-American goalie Will McAneney before Alex Dean sent the home sideline into a frenzy, wrapping a pass behind his back and directly to a cutting Aaron Grill, who scored easily for a 4-0 lead just past the 10-minute mark of the opening quarter.
After the Captains (3-1) got on the board, Atillasoy ripped a low-to-high snipe top shelf to make it 5-1 late in the period.
All of the second-quarter scoring came inside the first three minutes, and it was all done by the Bears. Grill sent a pass to Atillasoy in front of the cage, who faked several times before dumping in a shot. A minute later, Minardi scored on a man-up missile, then set up another top-shelf rocket from Tyler Falco to make it 8-2 a minute after that.
The Bears quickly extended the lead to 10-2 on third-quarter markers by Dean and Sam Mutz before Christopher Newport made a late push, getting within four at the 5:42 mark before the hosts saw out another victory.
Despite the scoreboard discrepancy for much of the afternoon, the Captains actually held an advantage in shots. Chris Porzelt was equal to most of them, finishing with 16 saves in another terrific effort. The sophomore had six stops in the fourth quarter alone, helping to prevent the lead from shrinking even more.
Chase Rondeau had three caused turnovers and Noah Frantz added two for an Ursinus defense that conceded just two goals from nine CNU extra-man chances. The Bears' trademark ride was at it again, forcing five turnovers on 19 Captains clearing attempts.
Atillasoy produced four ground balls and two caused turnovers in addition to his latest hat trick, while Julian Castilleja had a career-high five grounders. With the four goals, Atillasoy took over sixth place on the all-time program charts.
Men's lacrosse puts its unbeaten record on the line when it visits Montclair State next Wednesday.