York, PA – Stockton University (18-2) scored four goals in the first three minutes and rolled to a 20-9 victory over Morrisville State (NY) (10-7) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The contest, which was played at York College, was the first NCAA Tournament game in the 33-season history of the Stockton men's lacrosse program.
 
Luc Swedlund (Randolph/Randolph) led the Ospreys with five goals and an assist followed by Erik Anderson (Monroe Twp./Monroe Twp.) with four goals and an assist. Joey Tiernan (Voorhees/Eastern) scored three times while J.J. McKenna (Barnegat/Barnegat) tallied a goal and four assists.
 
Stockton outshot the Mustangs 53-30 and won 21 of 31 faceoffs. Morrisville State was making its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance after earning an automatic bid as the champion of the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC).
 
Swedlund scored just 30 seconds into the game to spark the Ospreys to the fast start. Tallies by Peter Burke (Shamong/Seneca), Anderson and Tiernan followed to increase the advantage to 4-0 with only 2:47 gone in the game. Swedlund added two more tallies and McKenna netted one on the way to a 7-4 lead after the first quarter.
 
Stockton broke the game open with a dominant 8-1 second period. Anderson and Dante Poli (Doylestown, PA/Central Buck South) led the onslaught with two goals apiece while Swedlund, Burke, Tiernan and Eric Ellis (Voorhees/Eastern) potted one counter apiece. Anderson's second of the quarter came with 2:02 on the clock and resulted in a 15-5 lead for the Ospreys at halftime.
 
The teams each scored twice in the third quarter, with Stockton content to protect its sizable advantage. Tiernan found the net 1:57 into the period and Anderson later struck with 47 seconds left to give the Ospreys a 17-7 lead heading into the final quarter.
 
Swedlund scored his fifth goal of the game in an extra-man situation early in the fourth stanza and the Stockton bench got into the act from there. Rory Alpaugh (Clinton/North Hunterdon) hit the net with 5:36 remaining and assisted on a late tally by Sean Haddock (Hightstown/Hightstown) as the Ospreys cruised to their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory, 20-9.
 
Stockton goalkeeper Justin Ruiz (Holmdel/Holmdel) made seven saves in just over 54 minutes of action to earn the win. Matt Thermann (Spring Lake Heights/Manasquan) ruled the faceoff spot, winning 16 of 20 draws and grabbing seven ground balls. Ryan Bradley (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) also scooped seven ground balls.
 
Stockton will have a quick turnaround and face #4 York College in the second round of the NCAA Tournament tomorrow at 4 pm.