Teague Leads Griffins Offense Against Spires

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University men's lacrosse team performed well in its home opener on Saturday, but the University of Saint Mary Spires came away with the 20-9 win.

The Griffins (0-1), totaled 22 shots in the outing, but went just 11-of-33 on its face-off attempts and 0-for-9 on its man-up opportunities. Individually, Dalton Teague, who totaled three goals last season, tied that mark today against the Spires and added one assist.

Connor Mallett and Alex Scott found twine twice, while Brian Nguyen and Zack Griffith added the other goals. In net, Nick Fresta got the nod and he came away with 13 saves on 33 shots.

Saint Mary (1-0), meanwhile, finished with 49 shots and went 22-of-33 from the face-off. Matthew Waeckerle had himself an afternoon with a game-high seven goals and three assists for 13 points. Billy Dineen and Cory Wunderlich added four goals apiece. In goal, Sean Maguire got the victory after compiling five saves.

In the first quarter, the Spires struck first on an unassisted goal from Waeckerle. Five minutes later, though, after a clear attempt by Fontbonne, the Griffins tied it up on Nguyen's goal off an assist from Michael Picciolo at the 7:49 mark.

USM answered with three goals over the next three minutes and 19 seconds to take a 4-1 lead. Fontbonne responded on the Spires fourth goal as Teague scored an unassisted goal.

Both teams scored one more goal before the period ended with USM getting its fifth from Seth Fraizer, while the Griffins answered with a minute and 20 seconds left on Mallett's goal to cut it down to 5-3.

Fontbonne carried its late momentum from the first into the second as Teague scored his second of the day to put the Griffins within striking distance, 5-4.

It was all Spires, though the rest of the way scoring six unanswered goals and that gave them an 11-4 lead heading into the break.

In the third stanza, Griffith netted an unassisted goal to cut it down to 11-5 with 13:33 to go. Later, at 6:55, after another good clear attempt, Reagan Chin found Scott who beat Maguire to put the scoreboard at 14-7.

However, the Spires outscored the Griffins 3-1 the final six minutes, capped off by Wunderlich's goal, to give USM a 17-8 lead going into the final 10:00 minutes of play.

In the finale, the Spires owned a shot advantage of 14-5, won four of the five face-offs and with three more added goals scored they went on for the 11-goal victory.

The Griffins return to action at home next Saturday against Dallas. Action begins at 2 p.m.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates and recaps on the men's lacrosse team.