BRIDGEWATER, Va. -- Allegheny College men's lacrosse survived a third-quarter rally to defeat Bridgewater College in a non-conference matchup, 13-8, at the Jopson Athletic Complex on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

The Gators (2-2) scored the game's first goal less than two minutes into the first quarter. Lightning strikes in the area halted the contest for approximately an hour, and the two teams battled consistent rainfall, but it wasn't enough to dampen Allegheny's early momentum.

Allegheny blanked the Eagles (3-4) in the first quarter, and thanks to a first-half hat trick from senior midfielder Pete Schellbach (New York, N.Y./Salisbury School), the Gators led 7-2 at the halftime break.

But Bridgewater responded in the third quarter. The Eagles outscored Allegheny 5-1 in the third and used a three-goal run to trim the lead down to a single goal before the end of the period.

The Gators entered the fourth clinging to an 8-7 advantage. After a scoring drought that lasted more than 16 minutes between the third and fourth quarters, the program's all-time leader in points, Aidan D'Amato (Tolland, Conn./Tolland), helped seal the victory. D'Amato snapped the dry spell with his first goal at the 7:07 mark, and he recorded a hat trick of his own over the next five minutes. 

Inside the Box Score

• Allegheny finished with more shots, 40-to-35.
• Thanks in part to a strong performance at the faceoff dot, the Eagles led in ground balls, 45-to-37.
• Allegheny's special teams scored the game's only man-up and man-down goals.
• Second-year attacker JP Rakis (Kensington, Md./Walter Johnson) led all Gators with four goals.
• Schellbach and D'Amato each netted three goals.
• Nick Gralewski (Meadville, Pa./Meadville) also had multiple points with two assists.
• In goal, Garin Stearns (Hudson, Ohio/Revere) stood on his head with 16 saves and only eight goals allowed.
• Defenseman Cassady Bouthet (Vernon, Conn./Rockville) picked up a team-high nine ground balls and caused one turnover.
• Long-stick midfielder Konrad Homiak (Hampstead, N.C./Topsail) had a team-leading three caused turnovers with six ground balls.
• Bridgewater was led offensively by Trevor McClelland, who had a game-high five points (4g-1a).

News and Notes

• Allegheny leads the all-time series against Bridgewater, 1-0, after winning the inaugural meeting on Saturday.
• Schellbach logged the second hat trick of his career.
• Rakis tied a single-game career-high with his third career four-goal performance.
• Bouthet's nine ground balls are tied for the second-most in a game in team history.
• Stearns already has 63 saves in just four games and is only eight shy of tying for the fourth-most in a season in team history.

Up Next
Allegheny is home on Wednesday, March 20, to host the College of Wooster at the Robertson Athletic Complex. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.