MONTCLAIR, N.J. - The No. 8 Ursinus College men's lacrosse team earned its fifth straight win to start the season on Wednesday, defeating Montclair State on the road, 18-11. The Bears went into the half tied, but Ben Minardi scored five goals in the third quarter to lead the team to victory. Minardi led the Ursinus attack with a double hat-trick, scoring a team-high six goals in the second-half alone while Hakan Atillasoy and Tyler Falco each put together a hat-trick with three goals each as well. 

The Bears started slow on the road last week at Eastern and did so again on Wednesday. Ursinus and Montclair State traded goals to start the game as the Red Hawks struck first before Atillasoy and Alex Dean scored back-to-back goals to put the Bears up 2-1. Montclair State answered and scored four straight to take a 5-2 lead into the second quarter. 

It didn't take long for Ursinus to find its groove in the second. Just 2:28 into the frame, Tommy Reinhart found Tyler Falco to bring the Bears within two and then Atillasoy made it 5-4, scoring his second goal of the day. The Red Hawks responded to regain their two-goal cushion, but the Bears came right back as Julian Castilleja scored his first goal of the season and Bobby McClure tied the game with his 125th career goal, 6-6. 

With six minutes remaining, Montclair State re-took the lead to go up 7-6. Goalkeeper Chris Portzelt made a pair of key saves to keep the game within striking distance and finally with 58 seconds left in the half, Atillasoy completed the hat-trick and tied the game for a fourth time. Atillasoy's goal with 58 seconds to go marked the fourth goal this season that the Bears have scored in the final minute of a quarter. 

Ursinus carried that momentum coming out of the half. It took just 62 seconds for the Bears to score, this one off the stick of Minardi and then Sam Mutz scored 48 seconds later to take a 9-7 lead. Falco made it three goals on three shots for the Bears before Minari scored his second of the quarter, this time playing with a man up, to give Ursinus a commanding. four-goal advantage. 

It didn't stop there. The two sides went five minutes without a goal after scoring four in four minutes, but Minardi made it three goals in the third quarter to give the Bears a five-goal, 12-7, lead. The Red Hawks finally responded with 3:22 remaining, but Minardi came right back and found the back of the net less than a minute later for his fourth in just over 11 minutes. The senior netted his fifth with 1:25 left to give the Bears a 14-8 lead heading into the final quarter. 

Minardi found the back of the net for a sixth time to begin the final frame. Montclair State scored three straight before Tre Tillman wrapped up the Bears win with his second goal of the season. 

Minardi is the second Bears attacker to score six goals in a game this season, matching Atillasoy who scored six at home against Mary Washington. The senior scored more goals on Wednesday (6) than he had combined in the four games prior (5) and now has a career-high 11 goals on the year. 

The Bears are back home on Saturday when they host Illinois Wesleyan.