Gulls' Late Rally Secures 15-11 Victory Over Salve Regina To Open CCC Play

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. – The Endicott men's lacrosse team defeated host Salve Regina, 15-11, Saturday afternoon at Gaudet Field to open Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play as Will Jennings (Danvers, Mass.) and Colin Bannon (Westport, Conn.) each had a game-high four goals for the Gulls.

The Gull struck first with the first of Bannon's four goals on the day at the 8:12 mark of the first quarter.

Salve Regina took a brief 2-1 lead with quick goals from sophomore attack Andrew Fera (Cranston, R.I.) and senior attack Sharp Jones (Scituate, Mass.), before senior midfielder Peter Field Jr. (Hampstead, N.H.) tied it all up, 2-2, at the end of the first quarter.

The Seahawks opened the second quarter with another goal from Jones, but Endicott soon fired off three in a row to take a 5-3 lead with 9:03 remaining in the first half and led 6-4 at halftime thanks in part to a last second hurl from Jennings.

The teams traded goals to begin the third quarter, as Endicott then scored three in a row to take a 10-5 advantage for the largest lead of the game with 6:30 left in the third quarter.

Salve Regina mounted a comeback near the end of the third quarter, trailing 10-9 heading into the final quarter of play. This momentum carried over as the fourth quarter got underway when the Seahawks managed six consecutive scores during this span to hold an 11-10 edge at 10:18, for their first lead since leading 3-2 early in the second quarter.

The Gulls strung together five unanswered goals from that point forward and ran out the clock to secure the victory.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Bannon finished the contest with four goals and four assists for a game-high eight points.
• Endicott senior goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) made a game-high 14 saves as he improved to 2-3 on the season.
• Field Jr. notched two goals and one assist, while Mitchell Tapley (Falmouth, Maine), Will Farfalla (Glen Rock, N.J.), senior defender Ben Katzen (Blauvelt, N.Y.) and freshman attack Luke Wallahan (Pleasant Hill, Calif.) rounded out the attack with solo tallies.
• Wallahan scored his first career goal for the Gulls at the 12:21 mark of the second quarter, while Katzen registered his first goal of the season at the 9:03 mark of the second quarter.
• Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.) went 16-for-25 at the face-off X and scooped up a game-high nine ground balls.
• Endicott held an opponent to a season-low 11 goals.
• The Gulls caused a season-high 12 turnovers of Salve's 19 total giveaways.
• Endicott picked up 41 ground balls, compared to the Seahawks' 33, including a 17-10 edge in the fourth quarter.

FOR THE FOES

• The Seahawks are 5-1 at home this season with their first loss of the season coming today.
• Sophomore goalie Matt D'Amore (Duxbury, Mass.) stopped eight shots as he suffered his first loss (6-1) on the year for the Seahawks.
• Salve Regina converted 2-of-3 man-up opportunities.
• Junior midfielder Jake Gonzalez (Tolland, Conn.) won 10-of-25 face-offs and had a team-high five ground balls.
• Fera scored a team-high four goals, while Jones added three goals.
• Junior attack Nick LoCicero (Lynbrook, N.Y.) chipped in one goal and recorded a team-high three assists.

NOTES

• The Gulls lead the all-time series, 21-0, and are 10-0 on the road in those games dating back to the 1997 season.
• Today's win was the narrowest margin of victory for the Gulls in head-to-head matchups with Salve Regina all-time.
• Endicott won last season's meeting, 23-4, on March 21, 2015 in Beverly, Mass.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (2-3) takes on No. 15 nationally-ranked (USILA) Lynchburg College, last season's NCAA runner-up, on Tuesday, March 15 at 7:00 p.m. in Lynchburg, Va., while Salve Regina (6-1) travels to face Clark University on Wednesday, March 16 at 7:00 p.m. also in non-conference action. 

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