No. 3 Knights Fall Short to Defending National Champion Nassau Community College

By Spencer Dean

Rosedale, Md.— The CCBC Essex Knights Men's Lacrosse Team was handed their first loss of the new season in Garden City, N.Y. this past Friday. The Knights hit the road to take on the number one ranked and defending national champions, the Nassau Community College Lions. The Knights fell just short of victory by a score of 16-15.

The Knights started off hot in this matchup, outscoring Nassau 7-3 in the first quarter. Nassau quickly fought back in the second quarter of play, making the score an even 8-8 at the half. The first six of Nassau's goals in the game resulted from a man-up opportunity.

After the break, Nassau was able to keep the momentum by scoring six more goals in the third, while Essex only managed to net two goals in the quarter. Essex was able to rally late into the fourth by putting five shots into the back of the net, but their efforts fell short to the tune of a one goal loss.

CCBC Essex outshot Nassau 47-45, each team with 27 shots on goal, and controlled the ground ball game 34-22 over Nassau. Faceoffs continue to be a dominant area of success for the Knights as they secured 23 of 35 faceoffs in this away matchup.

Freshman midfielder, Connor Covey, led the team with five goals on eight shot attempts while Joshua Schelfe and Bradley David both led the Knights with two assists on the day. Dominating the faceoffs all game was freshman midfielder Liam Kammar, who went 23-33 from the circle, recovering 11 ground balls.

The Knights look to bounce back in their next matchup, a home opener versus Onondaga Community College, in the Kingdom at Essex Stadium on Saturday, March 19th at 12pm.