RICHMOND, Ind. - March 19, 2022 – Hiram College men's lacrosse won its third-straight, wrapping non-conference play with an 11-8 win against the Earlham College Quakers on Saturday at Darrell Beane Stadium.
 
Following almost six minutes of scoreless play, Hiram got on the scoreboard first on William Luketich's ninth-minute goal, assisted by Ethan Mayer. And after Markus Johnson won the ensuing draw control, Mayer extend the Terriers lead with his first goal of the day, off an assist from Ambrose Colliluori, to make it a 2-0 lead.
 
Just a few minutes later, Elijah Gamber got the Quakers on the scoreboard, cutting Hiram's lead in half with his unassisted goal with 7:27 to play in the first.
 
Both teams tallied shots the rest of the period, but neither the Terriers nor the Quakers were able to get on the scoreboard the rest of the quarter, and Hiram took 2-1 lead after one.
 
The Terriers won the opening face-off of the second quarter, but after a blocked shot and failed clear, Sam Sargent tied things up for Earlham off an assist from Kevin Ventura with 12:03 left in the second quarter to tie the score at 2-2.
 
A little over six minutes later though, Colliluori and the Terriers retook the lead on Colliluori's 15th goal of the year, an unassisted, sixth-minute goal.
 
Up 3-2, Hiram then extended their lead to 4-2, taking advantage of an extra-man opportunity on Gage St. Leone's first goal of the day, off another Mayer assist, with 4:53 left in the first half.
 
St. Leone and the Terriers would add one more on the senior's second goal of the day, this time unassisted with 49 seconds to play in the second quarter, to take a 5-2 lead into the halftime break.
 
Earlham though, responded a little over seven minutes into the third, scoring back-to-back goals on Sargent's seventh-minute goal and Christian Navarez's sixth-minute goal, assisted by Sargent, to pull back within a score, 5-4, with 6:32 left in the third.
 
The Quakers then looked to tie things up on the ensuing face-off, but Bricen Jones and the Terrier defense stopped a flurry of shots, and then after a Hiram clear, St. Leone complete his hat trick, scoring off Trevor Nordstrom's assist to extend Hiram's lead back to two, 6-4, with 2:46 left in the third.
 
Earlham responded on Gamber's second goal of the day assisted by Sargent, with just over 20 seconds left, but the Terriers beat the buzzer, winning the face-off and scoring with just one second left on Brett Johnson's unassisted goal to take a 7-5 lead into the final period.
 
The Terriers then continued the scoring into the fourth, scoring three-straight over the first three minutes of the fourth to extend their lead to 10-5.
 
Off the face-off win, Colliluori scored his second of the day just 51 seconds into the period, extending Hiram's lead to 8-5.
 
Earlham won the next face-off, but after Gamber's shot went wide, Hiram took advantage of another extra-man opportunity, as Colliluori found Trevor Flugum for the score to make it 9-5 with 12:44 to play.
 
Noah Pilgram then made it 10-5, scoring his first goal of the day off Nordstrom's assist, to make it a five-goal lead for Hiram with 12:09 to play.
 
Earlham then answered with three goals of their own, pulling back within two on Navarez's third goal of the day with 6:58 left.
 
But Jones and Hiram's defense kept the Quakers from pulling any closer, with two huge saves on the ensuing Quaker offensive possession, before Mayer gave the Terriers some breathing room, scoring a man-down goal off Colliluori's assist to extend Hiram's lead back to three 11-8, with just over four minutes to play.
 
And that three-goal lead would prove to be the difference, as neither side was able to find the back of the net the rest of the way, and the Terriers finished off the 11-8 victory.
 
Hiram moves to 4-1 with the win, while Earlham drops to 2-4 with the loss.
 
St. Leone led the Terriers with three goals, while Mayer and Colliluori each added two. Colliluori also led the Terriers with three assists, while Mayer notched a pair.
 
Defensively, Gray Perry led Hiram with eight ground balls, and Markus Johnson added six, going 13-for-20 in the face-off circle. Perry also led the Terriers with three caused turnovers, while Jones, Michael Manos and Mayer each recorded two.
 
In goal for Hiram, Jones played all 60 minutes, earning the win with nine saves.
 
Hiram next returns home to Charles A. Henry Field at Malmisur Stadium for their conference opener against The College of Wooster on Saturday, March 26 at 1:00 p.m.