Chlastawa scores seven times and Bates College men's lacrosse rolls to 21-8 win over Keene State

Matt Chlastawa tallied seven goals and three assists and the Bates men's lacrosse team downed Keene State 21-8 on March 20, 2018. (Theophil Syslo/Bates College)

LEWISTON, Maine -- Sophomore Matt Chlastawa scored four of his game-high seven goals in the second quarter and the Bates men's lacrosse team rolled to a 21-8 victory over Keene State Tuesday night. 

Bates (4-3) won its third straight game and defeated the Owls (3-3) for the eighth straight time. Keene State took a brief 1-0 lead early in the contest before the Bobcats tallied nine straight goals to take a commanding lead they did not surrender.

Chlastawa (Westfield, Mass.) dished out three assists Tuesday to go along with his seven goals and currently leads the NESCAC in goals scored (26) and is second in assists with 14.

Sophomore Curtis Knapton (Westbrook, Maine) tallied the equalizer on an assist from senior captain Burke Smith (Wilton, Conn.) with 11:55 left in the first quarter. Then senior captain Clarke Jones (Pepper Pike, Ohio) gave Bates the lead for good with 11:06 left in the first. Senior Jack O'Brien (Rye, N.Y.) tallied the first of his two assists on the play. 

Senior Max Breschi (Carlisle, Pa.) and first-year Jack Scribner (Falmouth, Maine) added goals later in the quarter to give the Bobcats a 4-1 lead after the first 15 minutes of action.

Chlastawa really got going in the second quarter. He scored three straight times in the opening five minutes and then assisted on a Knapton goal to push the Bobcat advantage to 8-1. Chlastawa only missed one shot attempt in the game.

Senior Jack Maritz (St. Louis, Mo.) tallied his second goal of the season to put the Bobcats up 9-1 with 6:05 left in the half. 

The Owls' Jon Nassif, who opened the scoring in the first quarter, broke up the Bates run with his second goal of the game on an assist from Anthony Marcella with 3:47 remaining in the half. But junior Andrew Small (Deerfield, Ill.) found Chlastawa scored 32 seconds later for the lefty attacker's fourth goal of the quarter, giving Bates a 10-2 halftime lead. 

Bates outscored Keene State 6-3 in the third quarter and 5-3 in the fourth to wrap up the win. Sophomore Brendan Mullally (Baltimore, Md.) added a hat trick for the Bobcats, with all three of his goals coming in the third quarter, including a nifty behind-the-back score on a behind-the-back pass from Chlastawa.

Breschi, Scribner, Knapton and junior Matt Kelleher (Newburyport, Mass.) added two goals apiece Tuesday for Bates. Nassif and Paul Beling led the way for the Owls with two goals each.

Sophomore Rob Strain (Montclair, N.J.) made 12 saves in the cage and junior Mitchell Drake (Annapolis, Md.) added four saves off the bench. 

The Bobcats scored 21 goals on 46 shots while the Owls tallied eight scores on 41 shots. Bates won the ground ball battle 44-37.

First-year Devin Russell (Falmouth, Maine) scored his first career goal with 2:55 left in the game.

Bates returns to NESCAC action and hosts Williams this Saturday at 1:00 p.m.