WORCESTER, Mass. – The Clark University men's lacrosse team battled until the final whistle in the 2021 season opener against Coast Guard Academy as the Cougars scored four times in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter before having the comeback bid run out of gas with the Bears earning a 19-12 victory at Granger Field on Saturday. 

Clark University was led by graduate Chris Rasco (Huntington, N.Y.) who tallied five goals, four of which coming in the fourth quarter, to inch closer to the program's all-time record for career goals. Graduate Owen Lamerson (Greenlawn, N.Y.) and senior Jacob Brandes (Chappaqua, N.Y.) net a pair of goals apiece as the Cougars finished with six different goal scorers. 

For Coast Guard, a big six-goal performance from sophomore Caleb Holdridge anchored the Bears in the victory while Matty Johnson and Will Iorio also tallied hat-tricks for the visitors with four and three goals respectively. 

The Bears grabbed an early 2-0 lead on goals from Johnson and Holdridge before Lamerson got the Cougars on the board with 9:20 to go in the opening quarter, finishing off a nice feed from graduate Andrew Hollerbach (West Hartford, Conn.) for the first Clark goal. Lamerson knotted the score 2-2 moments later while on the man-up, finding the net on a feed from Declan Fitzpatrick (Lunenburg, Mass.). 

Clark grabbed the lead with 4:47 to go in the quarter as graduate Bobby Philbin (Ridgefield, Conn.) tucked in a highlight-reel goal to give the hosts its first advantage of the game at 3-2. Coast Guard jumped before the end of the quarter as Iorio and Johnson each found the net to make it a 4-3 score. 

Coast Guard gained some separation in the second quarter as it led a 7-1 goal scoring advantage in the frame, opening up the lead to 11-4. Brandes delivered the lone goal of the quarter for Clark as he found the short-side corner ninety with a defender blocking his line of sight. 

In the third quarter, Johnson and Holdridge continued their solid performances with the duo scoring just five seconds apart to make it a 13-4 advantage. Clark's Tommy McCarthy (York, Maine) responded quickly with his first tally of the season, but the Bears kept pushing, netting two more consecutively to up the ante. 

Clark came on strong to start the fourth quarter and it was Rasco who led the way as the graduate found the net on an assist from Hollerbach just 37 seconds into the period before scoring again at the 11:43 mark off the feed of graduate Jack Mandracchia (Melrose, Mass.). Graduate Quincy Milton III (Seattle, Wash.) kept the momentum going with a goal of his own moments later to make it a 16-10 deficit before Rasco potted another via the connection with Mandracchia. 

Coast Guard, feeling the pressure from Clark, responded as the final two goals of the game from Holdridge bookended a marker from Iorio to make it a 19-11 score with 1:16 to go. Rasco went on to pick up his fifth of the game with three seconds remaining before the buzzer sounded on the 19-12 final score. 

Mandrachhia led the Cougars with three assists on the day while brothers Benjamin Hollerbach (West Hartford, Conn.) and Andrew Hollerbach (West Hartford, Conn.) dished out two assists each. Junior Ryan Mickelson (Mattawan, Mich.) started in net for Clark, stopping seven of the 17 shots faced during 43:23 minutes of action. 

The Cougars maintained a slight edge in ground balls by a 35-34 clip while winning 22-of-34 faceoffs in the contest. Coast Guard held a 53-43 advantage in shots throughout the game. 

Game Details:

Score: Coast Guard 19, Clark 12

Records: Coast Guard Academy (2-0) | Clark University (0-1)

Location: Granger Field (Worcester, Mass.)

Clark Highlights:

• The Cougars hosted senior day in the lone home game of the season, honoring the careers of Jack Mandracchia, Jacob Brandes, Bobby Philbin, Dan Turgeon, Austin Reda, Quincy Milton III, Tyler Vincent, Luke Hoffner, Owen Lamerson, Chris Rasco, Conor Khung and Andrew Hollerbach. 

• Rasco moved into second all-time for goals scored in a career as the fifth-year graduate student passed John Toto '99 on the list following his five-goal performance. It also marked the sixth time of his career with five or more goals. 

• Sophomore Dylan Harloff (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) appeared in the first game of his career as he played 16:37 minutes while stopped a pair of shots. 

Next Up:

Clark University is scheduled to head to Springfield College for a NEWMAC contest with the Pride on April 17 at 1:00 PM.