By Brandy Thurston, Director of Sports Information
(Morrisville, NY – March 30, 20113) Visiting Keuka College tallied five 
unanswered goals in the third period, while holding the Mustangs scoreless, as they collected a 14-9 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) victory over host Morrisville State College men’s lacrosse Saturday afternoon on Drake Field in Morrisville.
The Mustangs fall to 1-5 overall on the season, including 1-1 in conference play. The win lifts Keuka to 3-1 overall, 1-0 in NEAC action.
David Middlemore (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) and Brendan Shannon (Stanhope, N.J.) paced Morrisville State’s efforts with three goals each, while Louie Geswaldo (Lafayette, N.Y.) added two scores and Jeremy Bunn (Penn Yan, N.Y.) one.
Bunn also registered an assist on the day, to go along with John Sherlock’s (Tully, N.Y.) two.
Despite recording the loss, Morrisville State goalkeeper, Chris Fiore (Staten Island, N.Y.) turned away a collegiate best 24 between the pipes, including seven in the final frame.
Cory Gray led all scorers on the day, posting five goals for the Storm, as three additional teammates added two tallies apiece, including Connor Latimer, Mike Crumlish and Derek Pfeiffer.
Latimer added three assists and Crumlish two, while teammate Anthony Luppino contributed a score and assisted three others in the win.
Eric Saltrelli posted the win in net, making 12 stops, including four in the final quarter of play.
Middlemore struck early and fast for the Mustangs, notching the unassisted score on a rifle shot from the left that stunned Saltrelli and found its way through his feet into the back of the net.
Keuka responded with two straight tallies on feeds that found Gray wide open on the doorstop before both teams battled back and forth throughout the remainder of the quarter, sending the contest into the second knotted at three.
In the second, Keuka and Morrisville State traded scores, before two straight gave the Storm a two goal advantage, a margin that held for a 7-5 halftime advantage.
Pfeiffer posted an early tally at 11:02 in the third for a three goal Keuka advantage, igniting the Storm offensive attack, as they added four additional unanswered scores, including three within a minute’s time frame, for a commanding 12-5 lead after three.
The Keuka defense held the Mustangs scoreless in the quarter, and forced 12 Morrisville State miscues.
Shannon was able to get Morrisville State back into the game midway through the final quarter with two unassisted scores on rolls on crease to make it a five goal game, but Gray responded for the Storm with two more, regaining the seven goal advantage for Keuka.
Shannon added another with 1:47 to go, and Middlemore one with 25 ticks remaining, but the Mustangs ran out of time as Keuka posted the win.
Keuka held the 53-33 advantage in shots on the day, including out shooting the Mustangs 19-4 in the second quarter alone. The Storm won the ground ball battle 43-33 and edged Morrisville State in faceoffs 15-11.
Morrisville State returns to the field Wednesday, traveling to SUNY Cobleskill for a 4 p.m. start.