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Saturday, April 19, 2008
M-LACROSSE SURVIVES IN BATTLE OF LEC UNBEATENS
Tyler Prescott scores game-ending triple-overtime goal against Keene State
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Tyler Prescott (Norwalk) scored on a pass from Matthew Savage (Southington) in the 12th minute of sudden-death overtime to give men’s lacrosse a 11-10 Little East Conference victory over No. 17 nationally-ranked Keene State College Saturday afternoon in front of a sun-drenched crowd of 800 at Thomas Nevers Field.
The loss is Keene’s (7-2, 4-1 little east) first in a conference match since Eastern (9-5, 5-0 little east) defeated the Owls in the championship game of the 2006 LEC playoffs by a 14-12 score. The Warriors remain undefeated at home in eight years of conference play, with their four conference losses in that span coming at the hands of Keene, the 2005 and 2007 regular-season and playoff champion. The match was the longest in Eastern’s 13-year history.
With one conference match remaining, , Eastern is guaranteed of earning the No. 1 seed in the upcoming LEC playoffs which get underway a week from Tuesday with first-round matches and is also guaranteed of at least a share of the regular-season title. The loss is the second straight for Keene after seven opening victories.
Keene unloaded 17 shots on goal in 11 minutes of overtime but could not break through against Eastern goalie Kyle Savage (Southington), who made six of his game total of 19 in extra time. Eastern had forced overtime when DJ Simmons (Mystic) scored an unassisted goal with 3:28 left in regulation. The biggest goal of Prescott's career came with just under a minute left in the third OT period and gave Eastern sole possession of first place in the LEC. From behind the net, Matthew Savage fed Prescott, who whipped his 18th goal of the season past Johnson, beating the standout goalie with a waist-high dart.
Keene scored the first three goals of the match and held a three-goal edge at halftime with a 6-3 lead. The Warriors finally tied the match at 6-all on a goal from Pete Hamilton (Rutland, VT) with nine minutes left in the third period. Eastern outscored the Owls 5-2 in the third period to carrey an 8-7 lead into the final period. Hamilton gave Eastern its only two-goal lead by scoring his second goal of the match to open the fourth period,but the Owls answered with three in a row in a span four minutes to assume a 10-9 lead with 8:38 left. Simmons, who scored three of Eastern’s five goals in the third period, beat Keene All-America goalie Matt Johnson with a bad-angle shot with 3:28 left in regulation.
In overtime, both Johnson and Savage made a number of saves from point-blank range to keep the game deadlocked until just 59 seconds remained in the third four-minute, sudden-death overtime period.
The teams combined for eight extra-man opportunities, but neither could capitalize. The Owls had a prime opportunity to win in the first overtime when they were awarded a man-up opportunity with 23 seconds left, but Eastern’s man-down unit kept the visitors off the board. Keene amassed a 62-50 advantage in shots, but Eastern managed to put two more shots on net than the Owls.
Eastern defenseman Steve Lane (Groton) collected a career-high eight ground balls for Eastern, with defenseman Mike Silvestrini (Guilford) and Simmons recording five each. Antonio Perretta (Hamden), who had won less than 40 per cent of his faceoffs this year, was 7-for-11 in that department in helping the Warriors capture 14 of 25 faceoffs.
Tony Santa Fe scored half of Keene’s ten goals, but none of his teammates had more than one. Johnson made 17 saves and Alex Corliss came up with three saves over the final 65 seconds of the third period while Johnson was serving a penalty. Casey Broderson had seven ground balls for the Owls, Johnson and Riley Benson scooping up five.
Eastern visits Trinity College Wednesday at 4 p.m. and closes out its regular season by visiting Massachusetts Boston with a chance to post its sixth undefeated LEC regular season in eight years.
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Eastern Conn. 11, Keene State College 10, 3 ot
Keene State (7-2, 4-1 little east) 3 3 1 3 (0) (0) (0)-- 10
Eastern Conn. (9-5, 5-0 little east) 1 2 5 2 (0) (0) (1)-- 11
Goals: K-Tony Santa Fe 5, Ryan Hazelton, Jamie LeSage, Mike Fontaine, Rodney Arganese, Peter Lauranzano; E- DJ Simmons 4, Tyler Prescott 3, Peter Hamilton 2, Matthew Savage, Brendan Hoppey.
Assists: K Santa Fe, Hazelton, Fontaine; E-M. Savage 2, Maxim Fantl 2.
Shots: K-60, E-52; Saves: K-Matt Johnson 17 (11 goals allowed, 69:56), Alex Corliss 3 (0, 1:05); E-Kyle Savage 19.
