Release courtesy of ACPHS Athletics

Despite suffering a hard fought 1-3 road loss to Bryant and Stratton Syracuse on Saturday, the Panthers rebounded on Sunday when Zak Giorgi (Whitesboro, NY / Whitesboro High School) scored three times and added two assists in Albany College of Pharmacy's 8-0 rout of The King's College. The Panthers move to 2-0 in the HVIAC and 5-3 overall, while King's remains winless at 0-5 HVIAC, 0-6 overall.

Giorgi's first assist of the day came in the 7^th minute on the Panther's second corner of the day. Giorgi curled in a right-footed cross that found sophomore Dylan LaBarge (Ellenburg Depot, NY / Northern Adirondack Central High School) unmarked at the top of the six-yard box. Labarge's header found the back of the net through a sea of bodies to put ACPHS up 1-0 early. Giorgi opened his own account in the 20^th minute when sophomore Jack Hanlon(Guilderland, NY / Guilderland High School) sent a searching ball over the top of the defense. Giorgi took a touch and saw King's freshman goalie Oliver Garrett charging towards him. He rolled the ball underneath Garrett to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead. On the stroke of the 37^th minute, Giorgi sent a low cross to freshman Jordan Miller(Ogdensburg, NY / Ogdensburg Free Academy). The ball was misplayed by Garret, and Miller made no mistake for his first collegiate goal. With Giorgi recording his 2^nd assist, the Panthers went into halftime with a 3-0 lead over the Lions.

LaBarge and Giorgi would hook-up again early in the second half, except this time LaBarge provided the assist off an ACPHS corner. LaBarge sent a driving cross in with his left foot, which Giorgi headed in off a defender to give the Panthers a 4-0 lead. Sophomore Mina Girgis (Canyon Country, CA / John Burroughs HS) followed up with his 5^th goal of the season, a bullet from just inside the 18-yard box, to make it 5-0 Panthers. Giorgi completed his hat-trick in the 71^st minute when the ball found his foot off of another LaBarge corner. His driven effort found the side-netting for his third of the game and his 10^th of the year. Junior Connor Laughlin (Cohoes, NY / Cohoes High School) finished the scoring in the 86^th minute after his low shot from outside of the box left Garrett rooted to the spot. FreshmanTony Chiffy (New Hartford, NY / New Hartford High School) provided the assist, and the game wrapped up with the score 8-0.

The Panthers finished with 30 shots to the Lion's five, putting 16 on target compared to the Lion's two. SophomoreMatt Houlihan (Levittown, NY / Kellenberg Memorial High School) and freshman Kevin Frevele (Cooperstown, NY / Cooperstown High School) each made one save in their respective halves, with Houlihan getting the win and improving to 5-3 overall. Garrett made eight saves in the loss, dropping to 0-2.

The Panthers are back at home this Thursday the 24^th, taking on SUNY-Delhi at 4pm. The Lion's look for their first win next Saturday the 26^th, when they travel to Webb College.