Coker Powers Past Lees-McRae in Season Opener with 20-Goal Performance

HARTSVILLE, S.C. - The Coker University men's lacrosse team powered past Lees-McRae in the season opener by a final score of 20-7.

Joe Venazio opened the scoring a minute and a half into the game, before Matt Murphy would score from Ethan Irizarry less than three minutes in to put the Cobras up 2-0. Jason McNeany scored unassisted on the next possession, before Venazio scored from Andrew Dappen a little over a minute later to stretch the Cobras lead to 4-0 in the first quarter. Irizzary would find the back of net unassisted just past the five-minute mark, before the final goal of the first would come from Venazio assisted by Irizzary on a man-down opportunity. Coker took a 6-0 lead to the second quarter.

Coker would continue to shut Lees-McRae out in the second quarter, scoring seven goals and taking a 13-0 lead to the half. Irizarry started the scoring from Kaden Ross less than two minutes into the period, before Kaden Ross scored a man-up goal from Venazio 30 seconds later. Dappen scored from McNeany on the next possession, before Dappen would score from Venazio with under eight minutes left to put the Cobras into double-digits. Irizarry scored unassisted with just over five minutes to play in the half, before Venazio would score from Nicholas Maddox with a minute and a half left. Irizarry would beat the buzzer with an unassisted goal just before the halftime horn.

Coker would out-score the Bobcats 5-2 in the third quarter to pad their lead further. Venazio scored from Ross 44 seconds into the quarter, before Lees-McRae scored back-to-back goals to get on the board. Coker would score the final four goals of the period, beginning with Murphy scoring from Venazio with eight minutes left in the frame. Ross would net a man-up goal from Murphy with six minutes to play, before Henry Haskett would score the final two goals of the period in the final five minutes and change.

While Lees-McRae out-scored the Cobras 5-2 in the fourth quarter, the Cobras were able to cap off the day with 20 goals. Irizarry scored four minutes in, before Lees-McRae would respond with four consecutive goals. It was Venazio unassisted with 28 seconds left to put the ball in the back of the net for the 20^th time on the day to send the Coker crowd into a frenzy. The 20 goals in a single game is the third-highest total in program history.

Venazio led the Cobras with six goals in the game, while Irizarry scored five times in the contest and Murphy, Ross, Haskett and Dappen each scored twice. McNeany also scored one goal in the game. Venazio also paced the Cobras with four assists on the day for 10 points. Venazio's day falls just shy of his own single-game points record of 11, which he set in last year's season opener against Chowan. Irizarry and Ross each dished out two assists, while Murphy, Maddox McNeany and Dappen each registered one assist in the game. As a team, Coker's 60 ground balls breaks the program's single-game record of 51 from back on Apr. 10, 2013 against Young Harris. McNeany led the Cobras with 10 ground balls, while Justin Hopkins also scooped up nine on the day. 21 other Cobras contributed to the new program record with ground balls on the day. The Cobras caused 15 turnovers on the day, just two shy of the program's single-game record. Richie Timothee led the Cobras with three, while Venazio and Hopkins each had two. Eight other Cobras forced turnovers in the victory. Coker also finished 11-13 on clear attempts for the day, while winning 19 of 30 face-offs.

The Cobras return to action on Wednesday (Feb. 5) to travel to Chowan for a non-conference contest. Opening face-off is set for 3:00 p.m., with video and live stats for the game being available at www.cokercobras.com.

McDonald's Player of the Game - Joe Venazio