Box Score UNION (NJ) –
Chris Coyle tied a Delaware Valley University record with five goals as the Aggies went on the road and downed perennial postseason participant Kean University, 10-8.
It was the first game in 14 days for DelVal as the squad improved to 3-2 on the year. The Cougars, who have notched 11 straight winning seasons and have reached the Skyline Conference playoffs in each of those years, dropped to 2-4.
The Aggies never trailed in the contest and controlled play all evening. They outshot Kean, 39-23, and won 14 of the game's 21 faceoffs. They were also 12-for-16 on clear opportunities while they forced the Cougars into 21 turnovers, including 12 on clear attempts (11-for-23).
Coyle, a junior, netted five goals in a game for the third time in his career and did so this time on nine shots. He scored on all five of his attempts that were on net. Coyle shares the school's single-game with
PJ Rafferty.
Coyle gave DelVal a 2-0 lead with a pair of unassisted goals in the opening quarter. The first came just 53 seconds into the contest while the second was just after the midway point of the stanza. Kean's Alec Ramos made it 2-1 late in the quarter and Matt Brodley evened things up early in the second.
Later in the second quarter, the two teams scored 47 seconds apart. Rafferty set up
Dylan Brasch for the Aggie tally while Mike Snellen found the back of the net for the Cougars. It stayed that way until
Jordan Smith put DelVal ahead for good with an unassisted goal with 37 seconds left in the half.
Coyle completed his hat trick three minutes into the second half for a two-goal advantage. After Kean got back to within one, Brasch scored off an assist from Smith to end the third quarter scoring. The Aggies then went up 7-4 three minutes into the fourth when
Matthew Laurence took a feed from Rafferty and beat Cougar goalkeeper Ryan Sieb.
Kean scored two goals in a 29-second span, but DelVal responded once again. First, it was Coyle with 7:15 to go and Laurence added his second marker of the game with 4:55 left on the clock. The Cougars never got closer than two goals the rest of the way and Coyle finished his record-tying performance with goal number five with 57 ticks remaining.
Brasch and Laurence finished with two goals apiece while
Jordan Smith had one goal and one assist and Rafferty notched two helpers.
Danny Smith led the defensive effort with six ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Matt Tordone grabbed five ground balls and was responsible for all of the team's faceoffs (14-for-21).
Gavin Yingling picked up the win and was credited with one save.
Eight different players netted goals for Kean. Sieb recorded nine saves.
DelVal will return to action on Saturday, March 25 when it hosts Albright College for a non-conference game.
