AMHERST, MASS. – Senior attack Alex Giacobbe recorded three goals, and Bennett Chow racked up three assists as the Amherst College men's lacrosse team played fantastic offense to earn a 17-9 victory over Roanoke College in the faculty appreciation game on Saturday afternoon.
 
Amherst got a jump on Roanoke early in quarter one, leading 4-1 at the end of the first quarter. Amherst retained a three-point lead in the second quarter, entering halftime with a 6-3 advantage. The Mammoths had a high-scoring second half, earning 11 points over the third and fourth quarters. By the end of the game, Amherst achieved a decisive 17-9 victory.
 
With the victory, Amherst improved to 7-0 on the season. The Mammoths will return to action against Wesleyan College next Wednesday at 6 pm on Pratt Field at Lehrman Stadium.
 
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
 
* Amherst struck first with 13 minutes and 59 seconds on the clock when Chow fired a shot that was saved by Roanoke's goalie. 11 seconds later, the Mammoths scored the first point of the game, with Chow assisting Bob Gross to a goal, his 16th of the season. Just over two minutes later, Giacobbe struck for the Mammoths, making it a 2-0 game. The two-goal advantage became three when Chow followed up with a successful clear attempt, scoring the third goal of the game for the Mammoths. Roanoke responded at 7 minutes and 27 seconds with a goal to cut the lead to 3-1. Amherst recovered its three-goal advantage with 3 minutes and 19 seconds remaining in the quarter when Brayden Stroh scored his first goal of the season. Amherst closed the quarter strong, sending the Mammoths into the second quarter with a 4-1 advantage.
 
* Dylan Hsu assisted Brendan Reilly to a goal, his tenth of the season, to push Amherst ahead of Roanoke by 4 points. Roanoke crept back up, scoring two goals at 11:36 and 11:30, respectively, to decrease the Mammoths' lead to 5-3. The Mammoths quickly responded, with Nicholas Kopp winning a faceoff against Roanoke, resulting in his first goal of the season. A little over a minute later, Nico Berger picked up a ground ball and scored another goal for the Mammoths. With a 7-3 advantage, Chow turned out yet another goal. The scoring streak was continued when Chow assisted Alex Vlacich to a goal with 3 minutes and 27 seconds remaining on the clock. 50 seconds later, the Mammoths put another point on the board off an assist from Devon Christian that enabled Pat Arnold to fire a successful shot. Roanoke scored once more, but with a 10-4 advantage, the Mammoths had a clear road to victory.
 
* Roanoke scored a goal in the first few seconds of the third quarter, but Amherst responded well, with Chow assisting Willie Doyle to a goal with 14 minutes and 12 seconds on the clock. A few minutes later, Devon Christian succeeded in a clear attempt to set up Giacobbe to score again for the Mammoths, elevating the score to 12-5. With five minutes and 24 seconds remaining on the clock, Giacobbe scored another goal, this time assisted by Hsu.  Roanoke put two points on the board during the remainder of the quarter, but Amherst retained a massive lead of 13-7 entering the last quarter.
 
* Lawson Laverty picked up a ground ball with 11 minutes and 18 seconds on the clock in quarter four, which he turned into a goal, his first of the season. Ben Bruno followed suit, picking up a ground ball to enable Hsu to score, which was also his first of the season. With a 15-7 advantage, Sam Gerber picked up a ground ball, which he passed to Doyle, who scored another point for the Mammoths. Roanoke scored a goal, but the Mammoths quickly responded with another goal from Luciano Chadha to elevate the score to 17-8. Roanoke put one final goal on the board, but the Mammoths had over two times the points of Roanoke at that point in the game, ensuring victory.
 
BY THE NUMBERS:
 
* Amherst out shot Roanoke 53-27.
 
* The Mammoths won 19 of 30 face-offs.
 
* Amherst collected 37 ground balls compared to Roanoke's 24.