MEN'S LACROSSE FALLS TO MOUNT IDA IN GNAC QUARTERFINALS, 10-3
April 25, 2012
NEWTON, Mass. - Freshman attacker Michael Trocchi (Danvers, Mass.) combined for a game-high seven points on three goals and four assists to lead the \#2 Mount Ida College men's lacrosse team past \#7 Emmanuel College, 10-3, Wednesday afternoon in the Quarterfinals of the 2012 GNAC Men's Lacrosse tournament. With the victory, the Mustangs (13-4, 8-1 GNAC) advance to the GNAC Semifinals to take on the winner of the \#6 Becker vs. \#3 Anna Maria match up taking place later this evening. With the loss, the Saints inaugural varsity season comes to a close with an overall mark of 7-9.
In a low scoring first half, the Mustangs got on the board first after over 11 minutes of scoreless action as junior attackman Nick Yacuzzi (Oakham, Mass.) found the back of the net with the help of a Brendan Hylan (Clinton, Conn.) assist to put the hosts on top, 1-0, with 3:36 remaining in the quarter. Trocchi would make it 2-0 with an unassisted tally just 1:15 later to give Mount Ida the two goal cushion heading into the second quarter.
The score stayed at 2-0 until Hylan converted a man-up goal with 4:18 to play in the first half, burying a feed from Trocchi to boost the defending GNAC Champions lead to 3-0. Emmanuel was able to hold the Mustangs scoreless the remainder of the frame to keep the contest within reach heading into the half trailing by just the three goal differential.
The Saints would make things very interesting as they opened the second half's scoring to cut the lead to 3-1 with 7:50 left in the third quarter. Freshman Joel Berger (Cape Neddick, Maine) was able to convert a pass from freshman Brian O'Regan (Milton, Mass.), beating Mount Ida senior goaltender Jimmy McAllister (Smithfield, R.I.) for the first time on the afternoon to pull EC to within two scores. Unfortunately for the Saints it would be the closest they'd come as the Mustangs were able to rattle off the next seven goals en route to the 10-3 victory.
Less than a minute after Emmanuel found the scoreboard, senior Zach Jacobson (Shoreview, Minn.) potted a goal to answer and open the flood gates for the Mustangs. Sophomore Zach Rosen (East Greenwich, R.I.) made it 5-1 with 4:58 remaining in the third before Trocchi added another tally to make it 6-1 heading into the final quarter of action.
Jake Davis would make it 7-1 just 51 seconds into the fourth before senior Sean Slattery (South Burlington, Vt.) buried a marker to make it 8-1 with 11:45 left in the action. Junior attacker Gilson Fernandez Jr. (Saugus, Mass.) would make it 9-1, finishing off the fourth of Troccki's assists on the game before fittingly, Trocchi capped the Mustangs scoring with a goal at the 9:15 mark to give Mount Ida a comfortable 10-1 cushion. Emmanuel would get two back over the final two minutes of play as freshman Josh Condry (Upton, Mass.) was able to find the back of the net on the man-up situation, finishing a nice pass from freshman defender Andre Welch (Longmeadow, Mass.) to make it 10-2 with just over a minute left in the action. Senior Jeff McMahon (Madison, Conn.) would feed freshman Evan Dolber (Malden, Mass.) for the final goal of the game to make it 10-3 with 0:07 seconds left in the game but the late run was too little, too late for the visiting Saints.
McAllister finished the game with 14 saves to earn the win for the Mustangs while freshman goalkeeper Austin Lauzier (Bedford, N.H.) stopped eight shots in net for the Saints.
The Mustangs will now await the winner of the \#6 Becker vs. \#3 Anna Maria semifinal game taking place this evening at 7:00 PM at Anna Maria College. Mount Ida was victorious over both programs during their regular season meetings, topping Becker 19-8 on April 14 and downing Anna Maria 15-7 on March 28.