Brancaccio Inches Closer to Record; Bulldogs Blast Alvernia, 18-3

BOX SCORE

Reading, PA (April 22, 2009) – Senior Matthew Brancaccio (Greenvale, NY/North Shore) totaled three goals and five assists to move within four points of tying the all-time scoring record and the DeSales University men's lacrosse team continued to keep themselves in the playoff hunt with a convincing 18-3 win over Alvernia University on Wednesday afternoon.

The Bulldogs move to 5-9 overall and 4-5 in the MAC, while Alvernia drops to 3-12 overall and 0-9 in the MAC. DeSales hosts Messiah College in the final game of the regular season on Saturday and DSU controls its own destiny needing just a win and they will clinch its first-ever MAC playoff berth. A loss will eliminate the Bulldogs from the playoffs and end their season.

DSU dominated play all afternoon on Wednesday, out-shooting Alvernia, 45-16, owning a 38-17 edge in ground balls, and winning 21-of-24 face-offs on the afternoon. The Bulldogs led 7-0 after the first period and held a 9-1 edge at the half. DeSales broke it open in the third with five unanswered goals before the final margin was posted.

Brancaccio led the way with eight points and has 48 total points this season. He now has 184 career points and is five points shy of breaking the all-time record of 188 career points held by Brian Kuttler. Freshman Jeff Cook (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore) also enjoyed a terrific day on Wednesday with five goals and senior Joshua Van Hart (Glen Gardner, NJ/Voorhees) had three goals.

Junior Kevin Walker (Wilmington, DE/Salesianum) and freshman Michael Bassani (Califon, NY/Voorhees) each had two goals, while senior #Andrew Ervin# (Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy), senior Jimmy Hirsch (Putnam Valley, NY/Putnam Valley), and sophomore Justin Campanelli (Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy) rounded out the scoring with one goal each.

Adding assists were freshman Brendan Guerrier (Bellerose Terrace, NY/Chaminade), junior Matthew Kruszewski (Atco, NJ/Winslow Township), freshman Blake Rice (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown), and senior Kevin Thomer (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan).

Walker had another fantastic day in the face-off circle winning all 14 face-offs he took and also grabbed a season-high 14 ground balls. Rice also had a good day on face-offs winning 5-of-7. Junior Jarryd Stamatelos (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West) only had to make one save in 30 minutes of action, while Campanelli made five saves in the second half.

DSU will host Messiah in the final game of the year with a playoff berth on the line beginning at 1:00 pm on Saturday, April 25^th.

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