PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson men's lacrosse team picked up its first win of 2019, posting a convincing 19-2 triumph over La Roche in road nonconference action on Thursday. 

Following this afternoon's win, W&J is 1-1 on the young season. The Redhawks, on the other hand, fall to 0-2 to start the year. The Presidents' 19 goals are the team's highest scoring output since the Red & Black defeated La Roche last season, 25-2. 

The Presidents took command of today's bout in the first quarter, taking a 4-1 lead after the first 15 minutes. Pat Brunner (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Saint Joseph) scored two of the four goals, while Benjamin Ward (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) logged one goal and a pair of assists. 

After the first, the Red & Black's defense settled in by not allowing another Redhawks' score until the fourth. Over the second, third and part of the fourth quarters, W&J went on to score 14 straight goals, to take a 17-1 lead. 

After allowing its final goal with 7:40 left in the fourth quarter, W&J added to more tallies to secure a 19-2 victory. 

For the game, the Red & Black owned a 59-21 lead in shots and a 39-8 advantage in shots on goal. A primary contributor to this offensive explosion is W&J's success on the extra-man, as it went 6-for-8 a player up. The Presidents have not notched at least six man-up goals since its 25-1 win over La Roche on Feb. 22, 2017. 

Leading the Presidents today was Alex Strain (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper Saint Clair) with eight points on six goals and two assists. The freshman has paced W&J in both games this year and he has 10 points this season on seven goals and three assists. Strain became the first President since Ward to have eight points in a game, as he logged four goals and four assists against Bethany on March 24, 2018. 

Ward was next on the team with six points. Ward logged his first points of the young season with three goals and three assists. With six points, the junior attacker moved into eighth on W&J's all-time points leaderboard with 116 in his career. 

Brendan Tribeck (Enola, Pa./Trinity) was next on the team with five points on one goal and four assists. Today's game was Tribeck's second with four-plus assists. 

In total, 10 W&J players tallied points in today's contest. Freshman Antonio Amaral (Belleville, N.J./Paramus Catholic) and Nicholas Carr (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) recorded their first collegiate points with one goal and one assist each. 

In goal, Noah Cohen (Hewlett, N.Y./George W. Hewlett) started and picked up the win in 41:20. Both freshmen Brody Alloway (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) and Duncan Barbes (Bel Air, Md./Edgewood) made appearances in relief, with Barbes making his collegiate debut. 

The Presidents return to action on Saturday, Feb. 23, with their home opener against Ohio Northern at Alexandre Stadium at 1 p.m.