SALEM, Mass. -   Michael Hibbard (North Chelmsford, MA) allowed only two goals and Joseph Natale (Haverhill, MA) earned a hat-trick to lead the Curry College Colonels to a 6-2 victory over the Salem State Vikings in men's lacrosse action on Tuesday evening at Alumni field.

Curry College improves to 2-0 on the year while Salem State slips to 0-3.

Salem State jumped on top 1-0 when Ryan Gendreau (Danvers, MA) scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season just a minute into the game. Matt Whited (Falmouth, MA) was credited with the assist. However, Curry College answered with two scores in the second period to take a 2-1 lead into halftime.  Natale (Haverhill, MA) and Russel Lanham (Silver Spring, Md.) each added unassisted goals to reclaim the lead for the Colonels.

Curry rod the hot hand of Hibbard, who played a near flawless game in goal, stopping several Salem State rushes with several spectacular saves. The Colonels then took control of the game in the third scoring three unanswered goals to pull away from the Vikings. Lanham scored his second goal of the game early in the period and was followed by back-to-back goals by Natale, the second coming with six minutes remaining to put the Colonels up 5-1.

Ian Abrahamson (Billerica, MA) added a goal for Salem State in the third and Connor Arnold (Clifton Park, NY) closed the scoring with a goal at the 2:19 mark to make the final 6-2.

Hibbard made 15 saves in the win for Curry while his counterpart, Kyle Tuneburg (Beverly, MA) made eight stops for the Vikings.

Salem State outshot Curry 24-18 and won 10-of-11 face-offs. 

The Colonels will host Husson University on Thursday at 3:30 PM while Salem State is in action again on Saturday at home against Nichols College at 1:00 PM. (Game recap courtesy of SSU Sports Information)

Box Score