CLINTON, N.Y. -- Matt Levesque '10 scored four goals and assisted on another to lead visiting Skidmore College to a 13-6 Liberty League win against Hamilton College in a men's lacrosse game played at Campus Road Athletic Field on April 22.

Skidmore (8-5 overall, 3-2 Liberty) moved into a tie for third place in the league standings with Rensselaer with one league game remaining. The top four teams make the league tournament. Hamilton (3-9, 1-4) has lost four straight games. The Continentals still lead the all-time series, 20-8, but the Thoroughbreds have won four of the last five meetings between the programs.

Levesque leads the league with 46 goals and 65 points. He has quite a supporting cast. Rob Lutin '10 chipped in three goals and one assist and now has scored 26 goals this year. Tom Levesque '09 added three goals off the bench and Nick Coppola '09 tallied one goals and five assists. Coppola's 43 assists this season easily lead the league. Scott Grillo '10 led the defense with seven ground balls. Flip Bongaerts '10 stopped eight shots in 55-plus minutes in goal. Cory Barkoff '10 won 9 of 13 faceoffs and Ryan Paradis '12 won 7 of 10 as Skidmore won 16 of 23 as a team.

Henry Burchenal '12 paced the Hamilton offense with two goals and one assist. Jon Leanos '12 was credited with his team-high 16th assist. John Whitney '12 picked up a team-high four ground balls off the bench. Max Vaickus '12 made 12 saves in 49-plus minutes in goal.

Lutin gave the Thoroughbreds a 1-0 lead with 9:29 left in the first quarter. Burchenal tied the score with his eighth goal with 4:11 remaining in the first. Tom Levesque's first goal of the night with 1:50 left in the first started a 5-0 Skidmore run that he also ended with 3:20 remaining in the second quarter for a 6-1 advantage. Alex Paganelli '12 cut the Continentals' deficit to four while Hamilton had an extra-man opportunity with 1:40 left. The goal was the first of Paganelli's collegiate career. The Thoroughbreds took a 6-2 lead into the break.

Skidmore scored the next seven goals to assume a commanding 13-2 advantage early in the fourth quarter. The Thoroughbreds tallied six of those seven goals in the third quarter. Jeremy Goldman '11 scored Skidmore's last goal of the night with 10:52 remaining in the fourth. The Continentals rallied with four goals in the final 9:39, but it was too little, too late.

2009-04-23