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Saturday, April 12, 2008
ROCHESTER TECH OVERWHELMS M-LACROSSE BY 15-8
For Warriors against Tigers, seven-game winning streak goes by the boards
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – After holding the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth for more than 40 minutes in its last match, men’s lacrosse was shut down for 19 minutes Saturday in a 15-8 loss to Rochester Tech (RIT) that ended a seven-game winnings streak.
Coming off three straight Little East Conference home wins – including a dominant 16-2 victory over UMass Dartmouth -- Eastern (7-5) played RIT (7-6) on even terms through the first period Saturday before the Tigers kept the Warriors off the board for 19 minutes, scoring five unanswered goals in the second period to build a five-goal halftime lead.
At left: DJ SImmons
After scoring three straight goal early in the match, Eastern never again scored as many as two in a row as the Tigers outscored the Warriors 11-4 after the opening stanza.
Junior midfielder DJ Simmons (Mystic) scored the final goal of the first period to pull Eastern even at 4-4, but the Warriors went scoreless and were outshot 18-4 in the second period before Simmons scored his second goal 1:31 into the third period.
RIT senior midfielder Andrew Ruocco scored all three of his goals in the second period and the Warriors never got closer than four the rest of the way.
In the match, RIT outshot Eastern 57-25, had twice as many ground balls, and won 19 of 27 faceoffs. The win is the third straight for RIT over Eastern after the Warriors captured the initial meeting in the series in overtime.
Simmons led Eastern with four goals -- the fourth time this year he has scored at least that many -- but Eastern’s four other double-digit scorers on the season managed a combined total of only three goals on 16 shots.
Freshman midfielder Eric Vasil (Southington) won six of 14 faceoffs and shared team-high honors with senior attack Tyler Prescott (Norwalk) with four ground balls each.
Of RIT’s six losses this year, five have come at the hands of teams mentioned in the most recent USILA Division III national poll. Five of the team’s losses have also come by a combined total of six goals. Two weeks ago, the Tigers upset No. 6 nationally-ranked Ithaca College, 11-10 in overtime.
Eastern visits Mount Ida College Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the first meeting between the programs.
RIT 15, Eastern Conn. 8
Eastern Conn. (7-5) 4 0 2 2 -- 8
RIT (7-6) 4 5 2 4 -- 15
Goals: E-DJ Simmons 4, Matthew Savage, Maxim Fantl, Pete Hamilton, Brendan Hoppey; R-Wes Adam 4, Andrew Ruocco 3, Iric Bressler 2, Dan Rago 2, Chris Ferry, George During, Chris Cherami, Garrett Johnson.
Assists: E-M. Savage 2; Fantl, Steve Lane, Jordan Michaud. R- Ruocco 2; Adam, Bressler, David Burk, Ferry, Sean Gillies.
Shots: E-25, R-57; Saves: E-Kyle Savage 12, R-Brad Conlon 2 (4 goals allowed, 30:00 min.), Kevin Rattigan 4 (4, 30:00)
