Men’s lacrosse: Comets fall to Britons, 17-9

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College men's lacrosse team fell to Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) foe Albion College, 17-9, tonight at the Cutler Athletic Complex in Olivet.

Sophomore Nino Minaudo handed the Comets an early 1-0 lead with an unassisted goal only two minutes and 17 seconds into the opening quarter. The Britons answered by scoring three straight goals to go up 3-1. Minaudo netted another goal off a pass from junior Jack Ranson to make the score 3-2.

Olivet would not draw any closer for the rest of the game. Albion went on an 8-0 scoring run, spanning the final four minutes of the first quarter and the first seven minutes of the second quarter to gain a 11-2 advantage.

The Comets did not go down quietly, as they scored six of the next seven goals to trim their deficit down to four at 12-8. During that run, five different players scored. Albion put the game away with the final goal of the third quarter and then out-scoring Olivet 4-1 in the fourth quarter.

The Britons finished the game with a 45-37 edge in total shots and a 50-37 edge in ground balls. Albion also won 24-of-29 face-offs, with Kyle DeCamp winning 22.

Minaudo led the way for the Comets with a game-high five goals on eight shots. Ranson and sophomores Lorgan Krieger and Tyler Polendo each had one goal and one assist for two points. Sophomore Shane Prunty also scored a goal. Krieger topped the team with nine shots, while Prunty scooped-up a team-high five ground balls. Junior Ryan McGee played all 60 minutes in goal and made 10 saves.

The Britons were led by four players – Zach Hubbell, Joel Hedemark, Alexander Dziewit and Cameron Braun – who had three goals apiece. Braun also tallied an assist for a team-leading four points.

The Comets travel to play Alma College Saturday at 1 p.m.