GREENVILLE, Pa. — The Thiel men's lacrosse team notched it's second win of the season with a 15-5 victory over visiting Hiram on Tuesday at the Rissell-Schreyer Dome.

Carmen Papa (Salamanca, N.Y./Salamanca Central) scored his first goal just 57 seconds into the contest, giving the Tomcats an early 1-0 lead. The Terriers of Hiram tied it up two minutes later on a goal by Gregory Summers. From there, the two sides traded goals, with Thiel taking a slight 4-3 advantage into the half on Papa's second goal of the game.

The Tomcats shook off their slow start, as they took control of the match by netting 12 unanswered goals in the second half, and the Thiel defense responded by not allowing a Terrier goal until 3:21 left in the fourth period.

Alex Casile (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) scored his second goal of the match on a pass from Tim O'Shea just 12 seconds (14:48) into the second half to increase Thiel's lead to 5-3. Some 45 seconds later, O'Shea scored his first goal of the match on a pass from Papa to make it 6-3, and Ahia tacked on his second goal of the match some 57 seconds to keep the good times rolling for Thiel.

The Tomcats continued to control the ball and find the open man on offense, as they methodically picked a part the Terrier defense throughout the second half, as they outshot the Terriers 55-to-17 throughout the contest.

O'Shea racked up six points with his second-straight hat trick, scoring three goals and adding three assists. Casile also had a hat trick, scoring three goals and tallying an assist while Ahia, Papa and Zach Macurak each had a goal and an assist. Aaron Herman (Cannonsburg, Pa./Canon-Mcmillan) notched his first goal of the season on a nifty one-handed strike that beat the Hiram goalie.

In goal, Ryan Weldon (Centereach, N.Y./Newfield) collected four saves for Thiel.  Ahia and John Tenorio (Alexandria, Va./Mount Vernon) led the team with eight groundballs each, while Ahia was especially efficient on face-offs, winning 11-of-12 for Thiel. Josh Derricoatte (Cleveland, Ohio/Shaker Heights) had a team-high four caused turnovers.

The Tomcats are back in action on Wednesday March 20, when they host Hilbert College. The game is set for a 4 p.m. start time.