STEUBENVILLE, Pa. -- The Allegheny College men's lacrosse team returned to the win column in a big way in Wednesday night's 2025 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) opener with a 19-8 victory over Franciscan University.

The Gators (3-5, 1-0 PAC) put together their best all-around performance of the spring en route to an impressive win in their first PAC contest. Not only were Allegheny's 19 goals a season-high but the Blue and Gold dominated at the faceoff dot with 25 wins on 30 attempts. Defensively, the Barons (2-5, 0-1 PAC) were held to their lowest scoring total of the season.

Allegheny netted seven of the first eight goals and used a six-goal run across the second and third quarters to jump ahead 14-5. Ten different players scored a goal, and 11 had at least one point, as the offense faced little adversity against the Barons.

After starting the game with a natural hat trick, junior attacker JP Rakis (Kensington, Md./Walter Johnson) finished with a game-high 10 points (4g-6a). Not only did he score three in a row to kick off the game, but Rakis dished out assists on three consecutive goals as part of the six-goal run between the second and third quarters.

Inside the Box Score

• The Gators led in almost every statistical category with more shots (50-to-36), shots on goal (32-to-20), ground balls (50-to-33), and faceoffs (25-to-5).
• Rakis (4g-6a) and Jack Cushwa (Martinsburg, W.Va./Martinsburg) (4g-2a) paced Allegheny's high-powered offense with 10 and six points, respectively.
• Alex Crespo (Johnstown, Pa./Westmont Hilltop), Tyler Rippole (Wexford, Pa./Pine-Richland), and CT Graniel (Scranton, Pa./Scranton Preparatory) each netted two goals.
• Akari Brown (Alexandria, Va./Bishop O'Connell), Jack Brandstatter (Lafayette, Colo./Dawson School), Tomi Horsley (Salt Lake City, Utah/Brighton), Griffin Cates (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey), and Jason Spindel (Medina, Ohio/University Prep) all scored once for the Gators.
• Anthony DeMarco (Olmsted Falls, Ohio/Olmsted Falls), who added one assist, won 23-of-28 faceoff attempts and picked up a game-best 15 ground balls.
• Konrad Homiak (Hampstead, N.C./Topsail), who started on defense instead of his usual spot at LSM, caused four turnovers and collected five ground balls.
• In goal, Garin Stearns (Hudson, Ohio/Revere) made 12 saves and held the Barons to eight goals.
• Franciscan's All-American attackman, Joseph James, scored half of his team's eight goals.

News and Notes

• Allegheny improved to 3-0 all-time against Franciscan.
• The Gators are also 3-0 all-time in PAC openers since joining the conference ahead of the 2023 season.
• Rakis' 10 points were one shy of his program single-game record of 11.
• Brandstatter scored his first career goal, while Brown netted his second goal as a Gator.
• DeMarco's 23 faceoff wins were the most he's had in a game since going 28-of-32 against Bethany College on April 10, 2024.

Up Next
On Saturday, March 29, at 2:00 p.m., the Gators will host Elmira College in a non-conference contest at Frank B. Fuhrer Field.