The Dickinson men’s lacrosse team came out on top of an early-season thriller at Montclair State, holding on for an 8-7 win on Saturday afternoon, February 25 in New Jersey.

The Red Hawks had possession late, but the Red Devils forced a turnover and were able to run out the clock, starting the season 2-0.

The Red Hawks struck twice to put the hosts up, 2-0, with the first coming on an extra-man opportunity with 8:33 remaining in the first quarter. Dylan Maher ’19 put Dickinson on the board a few minutes later, scoring unassisted with 3:27 on the clock.

Montclair countered with another score to take a 3-1 lead but Maher would score off an assist from Brodie Phillips ‘19 and John Lockwood ’19 fed Tyler Strods ’18 to bring the score even, 3-3, at the end of the first.

The defenses ruled the second quarter with just one goal being scored, as Tyler Llewellyn ’17 finished an assist from Tucker Carney ’18 with 3:24 left in the half to give the Red Devils a 4-3 lead at the break.

Dickinson won the opening face-off of the second half and Strods scored on their first possession to stretch the lead to 5-3. Montclair capitalized on an extra-man opportunity, scoring with 10:35 remaining in the third quarter to keep the game close. The Red Devils fired back as Nick Goles ’20 picked up a loose ball and scored with 5:15 to play in the quarter, extending the margin back to two.

Montclair scored again to cut the Red Devils’ lead to one with 2:50 left to play in the third, but Maher managed to score his second goal of the game with just over a minute remaining in the period.

Dickinson won the ensuing face-off and drew a holding penalty in the final seconds of the quarter to gain a free position to start the fourth. Strods found the net again to put Dickinson up, 8-5, scoring unassisted with 11:15 remaining in the final period.

The Red Hawks scored with just over 10 minutes to play to keep pace before capitalizing on a slashing penalty with just over two minutes remaining, making it a one-goal game at 8-7.

The Red Devil defense came up big with Dane Huber ’18 forcing a huge turnover to give Dickinson possession with just 25 seconds left to play and they were able to run out the clock and hold on as they improve to 2-0 on the season.

Maher and Strods each recorded hat-tricks to lead the Red Devil offense while Jack Doran ’19 anchored the defensive effort, causing three turnovers. Goaltender Andrew Jones ’18 made six saves on the day.

The Red Devils’ overall record stands at 2-0 on the year. They return to Carlisle for their home opener next Saturday, March 4, hosting No. 8-ranked Cabrini College at 1:00 p.m.