Balanced Attack Leads Men’s Lacrosse Past UNE, 13-11

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's lacrosse team used a balanced attack to defeat the University of New England (UNE), 13-11, on Tuesday evening at Hempstead Stadium.

With the win, the Gulls (8-8, 7-1 CCC) locked up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament. UNE, who drops to 10-7 overall and 5-3 in CCC play with the loss, will enter the conference tournament later this weekend as the No. 4 seed.

Endicott's offense featured seven different goal scorers in tonight's win, including Will Jennings (Danvers, Mass.), Colin Bannon (Westport, Conn.), Mitchell Tapley (Falmouth, Maine), Peter Field Jr. (Hampstead, N.H.), Thomas Harvey (Huntington, N.Y.), Kenneth Speak (Melbourne, Australia), and Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.). Jennings paced the group with three goals, while Bannon, Tapley, Field Jr., and Harvey all buried two goals apiece. Speak and Hughes rounded out the scoring with one solo tally, respectively.

Andrew Curro (Niskayuna, N.Y.) paced the Nor'easters with a hat-trick, while Dan Auger (Nashua, N.H.), Tom Luttrell (Greebrae, Calif.), and Mitch Mullin (Cumberland, Maine) all chipped in with two goals each. Connor Leggett (Sunderland, Vt.) and Matt Layton (Medford, N.Y.) also contributed one goal apiece in the loss.

UNE held a 5-4 advantage at the end of the first quarter, but the Gulls responded in the second behind Hughes who won all four faceoffs, which helped Endicott post a 4-0 differential on the scoreboard.

Hughes also started the scoring in the second when he fired home his seventh goal of the season at the 14:53 mark of the quarter, while Harvey netted back-to-back tallies at 12:58 and 7:02, respectively, to give Endicott a 7-5 advantage. Jennings then capped the scoring with four-seconds remaining on a feed from Bannon to head into halftime leading 8-5.

In the third, Endicott continued to pour it on as the Gulls received goals from Bannon (10:53) and Speak (9:48) to extend their consecutive goals streak to seven straight after Jennings started the run with 42-seconds to play in the first. The Nor'easters finally answered with a 3-1 run to wrap up the third quarter and cut into their deficit at 11-8.

UNE brought the contest within one on two separate occasions in the fourth (11-10, 12-11), but Field Jr. squashed any chance of a comeback by the Nor'easters with his 19th marker of the season with 35-seconds to play to lock up the win.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott is now 23-2 in the all-time series versus UNE.
• Hughes went 21-for-27 at the face-off X and also scooped up 18 ground balls (ties career-high).
• Bannon (2g, 4a) and Jennings (3g, 3a) tied for the team-high in points tonight with six apiece.
• Along with controlling possession at the X, the Gulls went 19-for-22 in clear attempts.
• Bannon currently ranks tied for seventh in points for a single-season with 84, while Jennings is eighth at 81.
• Jennings came in to tonight's game ranked seventh nationally in points per game, while Bannon checked in at No. 13 overall.
• Bannon also added a team-high three caused turnovers to his stat line.
• Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) finished with nine saves to improve to 8-8 on the season.

FOR THE FOES

• David Pearson (Scarborough, Maine) made 13 saves in the second half (30:00).
• John Dusel (Wilbraham, Mass.) stopped seven shots in the first half, and also received the loss (6-6) in the game.
• Auger led the team in points with six total (2g, 4a).
• Mullin and Chris Harlow (Boston, Mass.) tallied a team-high three caused turnovers.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott will play the winner of No. 3 Roger Williams and No. 6 Wentworth next Wednesday at a time to be determined later. UNE will host No. 5 Salve Regina in the CCC Tournament quarterfinals this Saturday (also a time to be determined later). 

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