EASTON, Pa. - Junior goalkeeper Matt Garber made 16 saves while sophomores Louis Perfetto and Vince D'Alto each posted a hat trick to lead the Boston University men's lacrosse team to a 13-9 win over Lafayette on Saturday afternoon at Fisher Stadium.

Lafayette (0-5, 0-2 PL) got within two at 11-9 midway through the fourth quarter, but Garber and the BU (5-1, 3-1 PL) defense held strong through the final 7:34 of the contest to preserve the victory. Garber made 11 of his 16 stops in the second half as part of his outstanding performance, and also gathered a career-best five ground balls.

They were winning faceoffs and had us on our heels," head coach Ryan Polley said. "They scored four in a row and Matt came up huge in the fourth quarter to help us cement the victory."

D'Alto finished the day with five points (3g, 2a) while Perfetto added an assist to go along with his three goals. Juniors Timmy Ley (2g, 1a) and Matt Hilburn (2a) also had two-point afternoons, as did freshman Tommy Bourque (1g, 1a). Junior Matt Baugher and freshman Christian Quadrino both found the back of the net. Two other Terriers - graduate student Nicholas Ellerton and freshman James Corcoran - both notched their first collegiate goal, with Ellerton's coming from beyond midfield to stop the Leopards' late run.

"Nick made a really heads up play late in the clearing clock just to shoot it, and credit to him to make a huge play to make that shot," Polley said of Ellerton's goal. "That really calmed everyone down and got us back to having a three-goal lead. It was a critical play in a tight game."

For the second straight week, all six starting offensive players had at least one point, with five of them registering at least two points. In total, nine different Terriers tallied a point.

"We've been doing a nice job sharing the ball all year," Polley said. "Guys have a lot of confidence in their teammates. James has been moving up the depth chart and did a nice job today. "Tommy continues to figure out what defenses are throwing at him and makes good decisions. His first assist was a really nice play. He continues to get better week in and week out."

Defensively, junior Will Carson caused three turnovers and added three ground balls. Ellerton added two caused turnovers and three ground balls while sophomore Patrick Morrison gathered a career-best five ground balls. Senior Sean Christman battled all day at the faceoff X, winning 11 draws and picking up four ground balls. Polley praised his defense for their outstanding effort, particularly in the defensive midfield.

"Blake and Donnie stepped up and went from a reserve spot to the being our starting D-middies," Polley said. "They fought really hard and logged a ton of minutes. "John Marshall is a long pole who played as a short stick today." We slipped Christian Trahan, a faceoff guy, into the defensive midfield and he hustled his tail off and made a couple good plays."

D'Alto matched Chris Gray's program record as the fastest Terrier to reach 50 points, doing so in just his 12th collegiate game. He has totaled 33 goals and 21 assists for 54 points in his brief, impressive career.

"As an attackman, it's about scoring goals and being productive," Polley said. "To be the fastest Terrier to 50 points just speaks about his productivity. Great attackmen, when they have great games they'll get 7-10 points, and Vince has certainly done that during his career. Today, Vince had a couple reads that he wishes he had back, but he still had five points. That's just the maturing of him, even when he doesn't have his best game he still has five points."

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The teams traded goals through the first half of the opening quarter, with Quadrino evening the score at 2-2 with 8:47 to play in the frame.
• That goal sparked a 5-0 run by the Terriers, as D'Alto, Corcoran, Perfetto and Ley all found the back of the net to give BU a 6-2 lead with 14:01 left in the second quarter.
• Neither team got much going on offense for the rest of the first half, with Lafayette cutting the deficit to 6-3 entering halftime.
• After Garber opened the quarter with several important stops to keep BU ahead by three, Baugher extended that advantage to 7-3.
• Lafayette answered with two straight goals to get within two, but the Terriers went on a 3-0 run to close the quarter thanks to markers from D'Alto, Perfetto and Bourque.
• Ley notched another goal to extend the Terriers' lead to 11-5, but Lafayette went on a 4-0 run of its own to cut the deficit to 11-9 with 7:34 remaining in regulation.
• Ellerton gave the Terriers a momentum boost with his first collegiate goal when he caught Ryan Ness (15 saves) out of his cage with a shot from just beyond midfield.
• D'Alto completed his hat trick with less than a minute to play to seal the victory.

GAME NOTES

• This was Garber's third game with 15 or more saves this season; all three have been in road wins.
• This is the second 5-1 start for BU in its last three seasons.
• Ley extended his goal scoring streak to 21 games.
• He leads the Terriers with 26 goals this season.
• D'Alto leads BU in points (33) and assists (14).
• Perfetto notched his first hat trick of the season.
• Bourque picked up his first collegiate assist as part of the first two-point afternoon of his BU career.
• Corcoran became the third Terrier rookie to score a goal this season.
• Fifteen different Terriers in total have found the back of the net this season.
• BU caused 11 of Lafayette's 19 turnovers.

UP NEXT

• BU will welcome Utah to Nickerson Field on Saturday, April 3.
• Opening faceoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.