WORCESTER, Mass. - Sparked by an 11-0 run to close the first half, the Boston University men's lacrosse team defeated Holy Cross, 16-6, on Friday night at Kuzniewski Field.

"I thought it was a complete game, and I'm really proud of all our guys," head coach Ryan Polley said. "This was a really important game for us which put us in a good position going into the Colgate game next weekend."

BU (3-1, 1-1 PL) earned its first Patriot League win of the season thanks to career days by sophomore Vince D'Alto and junior Timmy Ley. Ley set a new single-game program record with seven goals as part of his nine-point night, while D'Alto tallied eight of his career-best nine points in the first half, matching career highs with five goals and four assists. Ley and D'Alto are just the third and fourth Terriers in program history to tally nine or more points in a single game, coming one point shy of the team record. 

"Our first half might have been as well as we've played in a long time," Polley said. "We shared the ball and had a great game plan to get the ball inside. I think Vince and Timmy are starting to develop a chemistry with one another. Timmy's got a nose for the goal and is scoring in a bunch of different ways. He's a true goal scorer who is coming into his own. Vince has just completely expanded his game. He came to us as a scorer but has also developed into someone who gets his teammates involved."

Junior Matt Garber made 15 saves, including seven in the first half. Garber and the Terrier defense held Holy Cross scoreless for a stretch of 30:24, with Garber allowing just five of the Crusaders' six goals. Junior Alex Gainey and sophomore Max Gomez both saw time in the fourth quarter, with Gainey making one save.

"I thought Matt was phenomenal and gets the game ball," Polley said. "He has been locked-in all week, had a great warm-up tonight and made a couple big saves early to allow us to go on that run. They got a couple clean looks inside and he made some saves that allowed us to settle down defensively. If Matt doesn't have a phenomenal game, it's a lot closer. He had a bunch of quality saves and we're going to keep relying on him."

BU was tenacious on defense, forcing 11 of the 25 turnovers Holy Cross (1-2, 0-2 PL) committed. Junior Blake Phillips, senior Andrew Volk, junior Matt Gardner and sophomore Roy Meyer all had two caused turnovers a piece, while sophomore Louis Perfetto, graduate student Nicholas Ellerton and sophomore Patrick Morrison each added one caused turnover as well. In addition, Gardner and Morrison collected three ground balls apiece.

"I thought we were ready to play defensively," Polley said. "Our ride was tremendous, and in particular I thought this was the best the attack has ridden all year. The back line was also great in their decision making, including when Patrick stepped in to intercept a shot attempt which led to a goal in transition."

Perfetto tallied three points on one goal and two assists, while classmate Anthony Forziati recorded the first two-goal game of his career to join the Terriers' starting attack unit with at least two points. Freshman Tommy Bourque also found the back of the net for BU.

Eight different Terriers secured an assist on Friday, with junior Matthew Mineo picking up the first of his BU career. Freshman Christian Quadrino, junior Matt Hilburn, junior Matt Baugher and junior Ben Girolamo all had one assist apiece.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Holy Cross scored on its first possession of the game to take a 1-0 lead just 1:20 into the proceedings.
• It was all BU from there, as Ley got the Terriers going with a pair of strikes to give the Terriers their first lead of the contest over halfway into the first quarter.
• D'Alto and Forziati both found the back of the net in a span of 1:07 to extend the Terriers' lead to 4-1 before D'Alto finished the quarter with a goal to make it a 5-1 game.
• Ley and D'Alto continued to put on a show in the second stanza, as the duo combined for the next three goals to push the lead to 8-1.
• Baugher then found D'Alto for the sophomore's fourth goal of the contest, with Forziati and Perfetto rounding out the scoring in the first half to create an 11-1 halftime advantage.
• The teams played the next 15 minutes even at 3-3, with Ley scoring twice and D'Alto adding his fifth.
• Ley then finished his record-setting evening with a goal at 8:33 of the fourth quarter to give the Terriers a 15-4 lead.
• Bourque closed the scoring for BU with 4:24 to play.

• BU has won four straight games against the Crusaders.
• Ley extended his goal scoring streak to 19 straight games.
• He leads the Terriers in goals (20) and points (24).
• D'Alto has notched a point in all 10 games of his brief collegiate career and is currently on an eight-game goal scoring streak.
• Perfetto has recorded an assist in all 10 games of his Terrier career.
• D'Alto and Perfetto are tied for the team lead with 10 assists apiece.
• BU is averaging 14.0 goals per game while allowing an average of just 8.0 goals per game this year.
• Garber now has double-digit saves in three of his four starts this season.
• He now has a .615 save percentage and an 8.23 goals-against average.
• The Terriers were 26-of-29 in the clearing game and their ride forced six failed clears for the second straight game.
• Meyer and Volk both have a team-high seven caused turnovers to their credit this year.
• Girolamo now has two career assists, both of which have come this season.

UP NEXT

• BU is scheduled to host Colgate on Saturday, March 20, at Nickerson Field.
• Opening faceoff is set for 3 p.m.