CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-629-7898 or 518-416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Tuesday, March 7, 2023

The Hudson Valley Community College men's lacrosse program faced-off against a quality Region 3 opponent, Monroe Community College, and earned the 12-10 victory to start the new season off strong.

The Vikings were led by freshman Cole Duncan (Troy/La Salle), who scored a game-high five goals, in his first collegiate game of his career. Cole jump-started the Vikings offense by scoring the team's first two goals of the game as each program worked through early game jitters before the Vikings utilized a 6-3 run in the second half to pull away with the victory.

Overall, seven Vikings scored at least one goal on the day. Caleb Dyer (Stillwater.Stillwater) scored twice and a Gavin Breen (Rensselaer/Columbia), Matthew Calicchia (Loudonville/Shaker), Bill DiDonna (Troy/Columbia), Willis Bickford (Fort Edward/South Glens Falls) and Gavin Blair (Greenwich/Greenwich) all found the back of the net.

Chris MacDonald (Sykesville, Md./Century) picked up where he left off last season as the team's leader in ground balls. MacDonald tallied a team-best 10 ground balls and caused a pair of Monroe turnovers on the defensive side of the field.

Alex Ely (Brewster/North Salem) earned his first win as the starting goalkeeper for the Vikings as he allowed 10 goals and made nine saves, including several spectacular saves as Monroe attempted to tie the game up late in the second half, which ultimately resulted in the Vikings pushing a four-goal lead late in the fourth quarter.

The men's lacrosse program has now won five straight games, dating back to the end of last season when they finished the 2022 year 4-0 in the month of April. The Vikings are back in action against a historically tough Onondaga program on Wednesday, March 15 at 4 p.m. in Syracuse, NY.