SPRINGFIELD, Mass.. – Clark University men's lacrosse notched its first win of the year on Saturday afternoon as three goals and three assists from Jacob Brandes (Chappaqua, N.Y.)and five goals from Chris Rasco (Huntington, N.Y.) fueled the Cougars offense in a 14-12 triumph at Stagg Field over Springfield College. 

Graduate Bobby Philbin (Ridgefield, Conn.) also tallied a pair of goals for Clark while classmate Andrew Hollerbach (West Hartford, Conn.) scored once and dished out three assists to highlight the Cougars attack. 

Junior Ryan Mickelson (Mattawan, Mich.) played all sixty in net for the Cougars, turning aside 18 of the 30 shots faced. Junior Benjamin Hollerbach (West Hartford, Conn.) recorded a goal and an assist while Quincy Milton III (Seattle, Wash.) and Noah Skole (Longmeadow, Mass.) rounded out the goal scorers for Clark. 

Springfield struck first at the 10:39 mark of the first quarter as Joe Hawley notched an unassisted goal for the Pride to give the host the lead. Clark came right back less than a minute later as Brandes matched with an unassisted tally of his own. 

After a marker from Springfield's Kevin Tierney, Clark took its first lead of the game and then a couple as the Cougars scored three unanswered goals from Philbin, Rasco, and B. Hollerbach for a 4-2 lead with 5:59 in the quarter. However, Springfield responded for a lead change as the Pride scored three straight over the final 5:14 to take a 5-4 advantage. 

In the second quarter, Clark fought back for another run of three goals with A. Hollerbach getting in on each one. The graduate knotted the score 5-5 in unassisted fashion at the 13:07 mark and then dished out the assists to Brandes and Milton III at the 7:40 and 4:39 marks respectively to give the Cougars a 7-5 margin. The teams battled over the remaining time in the half with goals from Rasco and Brandes helping Clark hold a 9-8 lead headed into the break. 

The Cougars looked to build on the lead in the second half as Skole notched his first goal of the year on a feed from Brandes. Clark controlled an 11-9 lead after three quarters, but the Pride was able to level the score early in the final frame as Tierney and Hawley knotted it up with 9:25 to go in the contest. The teams traded goals to make it 12-12 with Clark emerging as Rasco notched goals at the 7:32 mark and 3:15 mark to give the Cougars the slight 14-12 victory. 

Game Details:

Score: Clark 14, Springfield 12

Records: Clark University (1-1) | Springfield College (0-2)

Location: Stagg Field (Worcester, Mass.)

Clark Highlights:

• Rasco notched his third straight five-goal performance dating back to last season and inched closer to the program's all-time goal-scoring record, now needing just nine goals to pass Brandon King '19. 

• Mickelson tallied 18 saves to surpass his previous single-game career-high of 16 which was set three times during the 2019-20 season. He also picked up his first collegiate victory in net for the Cougars. 

• Philbin finished the contest 13-for-17 on faceoffs to help the Cougars lead the possession battle. Clark dominated in the faceoff circle winning 23-of-30 throughout the contest. 

• Brandes notched his fourth career hat-trick in the win while also setting a single-game season-high for goals scored with three. 

• Skole, who missed all of last season, notched his first goal of the season and first since his rookie campaign. During his first year in 2018-19, Skole recorded eight goals to go with an assist. 

Up Next:

Clark University is scheduled to take on Wheaton College on April 24 at 1:00 PM in the 2021 regular-season finale.