MEN'S LACROSSE USES STRONG FOURTH QUARTER TO DEFEAT REGIS, 6-5
March 21, 2012
BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel College men's lacrosse team used a three-goal fourth quarter outing to erase a one-score deficit and come-from-behind to defeat Regis College, 6-5, Wednesday evening at Clemente Field in Boston, Mass. The win was the third straight for the Saints who improve to 3-2 on the year while the loss drops the Pride to 2-4 overall. EC also improves to 3-0 on their home turf becoming the first men's program in EC athletics history to go undefeated at home over their first three contests.
Trailing 4-3 entering the fourth, Emmanuel took advantage of a man-up situation to open the quarter and even the game at 4-4. As time expired in the third, Regis was whistled for a slashing penalty to give the Saints the quick intermission to talk things over and set up the man-up offensive unit. EC would strike just 34 seconds into the fourth as junior middie Ted Dimando (Hampstead, N.H.) fed freshman middie Jake Jaskolski (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) for his second goal of the contest to knot the score at 4-all.
After over 10 minutes of action with the score deadlocked at 4-4, the Saints would collect the go-ahead goal with 4:22 left on the clock to take the lead for good on a scrum in front of the Regis net. Freshman defender Cody Gallagher (West Islip, N.Y.) started the play with a groundball in front of the Pride crease and as he fell to the ground, shoveled the ball to sophomore attackman Brian O'Regan (Milton, Mass.). O'Regan was checked from behind sending him to the pitch but was able to force the ball past Regis sophomore goaltender Breandan Crane (Billerica, Mass.) to make it a 5-4 game.
The Saints would add an insurance goal that would prove to be huge with 3:16 left in the quarter when senior middie Eddie Thy (Portland, Maine.) set up freshman attacker Evan Dolber (Malden, Mass.) for his sixth goal of the season to make it 6-4, giving EC the first two-goal lead in the game for either team.
The Pride would make it a one-score game as sophomore attacker Billy Stewart (West Roxbury, Mass.) converted his third tally of the night with 2:15 left in the action on an unassisted goal to cut the Saints lead to 6-5. On the ensuing faceoff, Regis would win control of the ball and have a chance to even the score but a huge defensive stop and caused turnover by freshman Kevin McMichael (Pompton Plains, N.J.) allowed for Emmanuel to regain control of the ball and hold on for the 6-5 victory.
Regis opened the game's scoring as Stewart found the back of the net just 3:12 into the contest to give the Pride an early 1-0 advantage. The goal was the only marker in the first quarter for either side as both Crane and EC keeper Austin Lauzier (Bedford, N.H.) were terrific between the pipes.
In the second quarter, Thy tied the score at 1-1 with an unassisted goal at the 8:29 marker before the Saints would take their first lead of the action just over a minute later when freshman middie Joel Berger (Cape Neddick, Maine) recorded an unassisted goal of his own to make it 2-1 with 7:24 remaining in the first half. Regis would answer before halftime as sophomore attacker Matt Vogan (Belmont, Mass.) found Stewart for his second goal of the half to even the score at 2-all with 4:40 remaining in the second quarter. The Pride would have a pair of man-up opportunities before the half's close but were unable to convert as the game went into the intermission deadlocked at 2-2.
Emmanuel opened the second half's scoring with a man-up goal to take a 3-2 lead as Jaskolski converted an open opportunity for an unassisted marker at the 12:46 mark. Regis would respond with a man-up goal of its own exactly two minutes later when freshman attackman Peter Leighton (Wilmington, Mass.) finished his team-leading 10th goal of the year off a feed from his linemate John Basbas (Framingham, Mass.) to make it a 3-3 contest with 10:46 left in the third. Basbas would then get into the scoring mix with his fourth goal of the season to pull the Pride ahead for the first time since they led, 1-0, with an unassisted marker at the 4:37 mark of the third to set the stage for the fourth quarter heroics by EC.
Lauzier (3-2) enjoyed the best game of his young collegiate career as the rookie posted a career-high 15 saves while also recording three groundballs. Crane (1-4) was also solid in net, finishing with seven saves and three groundballs for Regis.
The Saints will return to action on Saturday when they open Great Northeast Athletic Conference play against Mount Ida College at 1:00 PM at Clemente Field while the Pride head to Mitchell College for a 12:00 PM non-conference tilt in New London, Conn.