Grandson Jonathan

Our grandson, Jonathan, is on the men’s lacrosse team, The Saints, at college (Mercyhurst North East).  The team just won their first game of the season. Below is a news report about the game. I have underlined the reference to him.

Saints Lax Get Their First Win
Mar 16, 2009

Mercyhurst NE 24
Tompkins Cortland C.C. 14

(Dryden, NY) The Mercyhurst North East men's lacrosse team played Tompkins Cortland this past Saturday and came away with their first win this season, defeating the Panthers 24-14. The offense played very unselfish, as nine players tallied a point, and the defense played great individual and team defense.

Leading the team offensively was freshman attackman Jordan Flaman with 9 goals and 2 assists. Fellow freshmen attackman John Hink (3g, 3a) and Scott Workman (4g, 4a) also played great games. The midfield was led by the sophomore trio of Brian Dacunha (2g, 3a, 7gb's), Brad Pendy (1g,2a), and Zach Reiser (2a). The scoring was rounded out by sophomores Chase Sutherland (1g), Jay Rekau (1a), and freshman Andy Shaver (2g).

The defense really stepped up to the challenge, as they limited Tompkins Cortland to seven goals through three quarters. At close defense, sophomore Rob Kramer stripped the opposition time after time, while his freshmen counterparts Dean Branham and Gil Johnson denied the Panthers any room to attack. At LSM, freshman Jimmy Cardinale was a groundball machine until getting injured in the first quarter. Freshman Jon Reynolds took his place the rest of the game and came up with some huge plays. Freshman Donnie Murray played well at close defense and LSM and showed great hustle throughout the game.
In the net, all four goalies split time. Sophomore Donnie Andrews stifled the Panther offense, as he stopped 13 out of 20 shots. Freshman Andrew Ellis took over in the fourth quarter and also limited the Panthers, as he stopped 6 out of 13 shots.

Coach Malone was very proud of the team's effort, as the Saints cleared the ball 20 out of 23 times, came away with 42 groundballs, and went 2-2 on man-up opportunities. The team travels to Broome CC to play on Saturday March 21. This will be a great test for the Saints, as Broome is currently ranked #10 in the latest Coaches Poll.

In His name,
Chaplain Sam Houchins