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Wednesday, April 2, 2008
WESTERN MAKES EARLY STATEMENT, BUT WARRIORS HAVE FINAL SAY
In Little East Conference men’s lacrosse, Warriors rally for final seven goals in 16-14 win
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Western Connecticut State University men’s lacrosse team opened the match with the first five goals, but the Warriors closed it with the final seven to rally for a 16-14 Little East Conference victory Wednesday afternoon at Thomas Nevers Field.
Eastern trailed 5-0 late in the first period and by five, 13-8, with seven minutes left in the third before scoring eight of the final nine goals of the match – including the last seven – to remain perfect at Nevers Field in eight years of conference competition.
The win is the fifth straight after an 0-4 start for Eastern (5-4, 2-0 little east), which has won all seven matches against Western (5-4, 1-1 little east) in the series.
At left: DJ Simmons
Held scoreless in the first half, junior midfielder DJ Simmons (Mystic) scored all four of his goals in the decisive 8-1 run over the final 21 minutes of play. Simmons, who entered the game as the team’s second-leading scorer, gave the Warriors their first lead, 15-14 with 8:18 left, then added an insurance goal with 3:34 remaining while Eastern was running time off the clock. Western did not score a goal over the 18:36 after taking a 14-9 lead with 3:36 left in the third period.
Western scored goals on its first three extra-man opportunities – two of them coming in the first 11 minutes of play – but the Warriors’ successfully killed off all four of the Colonials’ man-up tries in the second half. Another key to the comeback came when Eastern won four of six faceoffs in the fourth period after Western had dominated by winning nine of ten in the third.
Senior midfielder Dennis Skarda, Western’s leader with 16 assists entering the match, had a hand in Western’s first four goals with three assists and a goal, and freshman midfielder Mike Barnao added a goal with 2:46 left in the first period to give the Colonials their quick 5-0 lead. In danger of being run off its own field, Eastern gained a measure of momentum by responding with its first two goals of the match in the final two minutes of the first period.
Trailing 14-10 with 2:53 left in the third period, the Warriors got a shorthanded goal from Simmons to cut the gap to three heading into the final period. Senior midfielder Pete Hamilton (Rutland, VT) and freshman attack Brendan Hoppey (Shoreham, NY) each scored in the first two minutes of the fourth period to make it a one-goal match, and senior attack Tyler Prescott’s (Norwalk) extra-man goal – his first marker of the game since scoring with 30 seconds left in the first period -- pulled the Warriors even at 14-14 with just under 13 minutes left.
Eastern junior goalie Kyle Savage (Southington) rebounded from a sluggish first half by stopping six of the ten shots he faced after the break. Four of his game total of 11 saves came when he stoned the Colonials in the fourth period.
Junior attack Matthew Savage (Southington) led Eastern with a career-high five goals on just seven shots and also added an assist to improve his team-leading totals to 23 goals and 27 points. Simmons finished with four goals and two assists to give him 20 goals and 26 points this year. Hamilton added three goals and Hoppey a goal and career-high four assists. Hoppey leads the club with 12 assists in nine matches.
Junior defenseman Steve Lane (Groton) and freshman midfielder Eric Vasil (Southington) each had six ground balls for Eastern, while junior midfielder Terry Stroz of Western collected 14 ground balls. Stroz handled all 34 faceoffs for the Colonials in the game, winning 22. Vasil, however, corralled the first four faceoffs of thefinal period, helping Eastern maintain its third-period momentum and allowing it to strike three times in the first 2:15 of the final frame to tie the match at 14.
Eastern plays the second of three straight home matches Friday when it hosts Plymouth State University at 4 p.m.
Eastern Conn. 16, Western Conn. 14
Western Conn. (5-4, 1-1 little east) 5 5 4 0 -- 14
Eastern Conn. (5-4, 2-0 little east) 2 4 5 5 -- 16
Goals: W-Adam Lanehart 3, Andrew Barbieri 2, Ron Pac 2, Mike Barnao 2, Dennis Scarda, Joseph Aitken, Kirk Zachary, Terry Stroz, Vincent Bevilacqua; E-Matthew Savage 5, DJ Simmons 4, Pete Hamilton 3, Tyler Prescott 2, Brendan Hoppey, Zach Malouf.
Assists: W-Skarda 5, Lanehart, Aitken, Zachary; E-Hoppey 4, Simmons 2, M. Savage, Eric Vasil, Maxim Fantl.
Shots: W-45, E-32; Saves: W-Kyle Wood 12, E-Kyle Savage 11.
