April 28, 2009
BEVERLY, Mass. - The second-seeded and 16th-ranked Endicott men's lacrosse team scored five goals in the opening 1:36 of the second half to help lift the Gulls to a 16-9 TCCC Quarterfinal win over cross-town rival Gordon College on Tuesday afternoon in Beverly, Mass. The win improves the Gulls to 14-3 overall while the Fighting Scots end their season at 4-11.
It didn't take long for the Gulls to get the scoring started as Eddie O'Reilly (Beverly, Mass.) scored 2:16 into the opening quarter off an assist from Nick Cosco (Londonderry, N.H.), and then again just three minutes later as he dodged down the right side and beat Mark Merullo (Ramsey, N.J.) with a bounce shot to make it 2-0 Endicott.
Gordon answered back with consecutive goals by senior Andrew Kirkaldy (Red Deer, Canada) to knot the game at 2-2. The Gulls then grabbed a 3-2 lead as Brad Lipkvich (Madison, Conn.) scored off the left side with just 18 seconds left in the frame to give Endicott a one goal lead after one.
In the second, Endicott raced out to a 6-2 lead as O'Reilly, Brandon Dube (Danvers, Mass.) and Jonathan Prentice (Chelmsford, Mass.) scored on three straight possessions to increase the Gulls' advantage. Gordon's Danny Mack (Columbus, Ohio) and Joel Derechinshy (Annapolis, Md.) then posted goals just 1:30 apart to make it 6-4; however Endicott's Dan Cain (Billerica, Mass.) closed out the first half with a lay-up goal off a nice feed from Cosco to send the Gulls into the break with a 7-4 lead.
Endicott came out of the intermission a different team than when they entered it, as the Gulls posted five goals in the opening 1:36 of the third quarter to blow the game wide open. In total, the Blue and Green went on a 7-1 run in the third, outshooting the Fighting Scots 18-7 in the frame. A 14-5 lead entering the fourth quarter proved sufficient, as the Gulls took the decision, 16-9.
Endicott's Brandon Dube had four goals and two assists while classmate Eddie O'Reilly ended the day with four goals and one helper. Nick Cosco scored once and added three assists while both Dan Cain and Jonathan Prentice had two goals in the winning effort. Brad Lipkvich was also strong through the midfield, notching a goal and three assists while senior face-off specialist Joe Gugino (West Hartford, Conn.) went 13-of-19 from the midfield X.
Gordon's Andrew Kirkaldy hung an impressive three goals and three assists on the board in the loss. Joel Derechinshy also scored three times for the guests while Jordan MacIntosh (Oakville, Ontario) finished with a goal and two assists.
Endicott outshot the Scots 51-29 and won 22 of the game's 28 face-offs. Gordon netminder Mark Merullo made 15 saves in the losing effort.
The win advances Endicott into Thursday's The Commonwealth Coast Conference Semifinals where the Gulls will play host to Roger Williams University. The No. 3 seed Hawks defeated Wentworth in the 3 vs. 6 match-up on Tuesday by an impressive score of 20-4. Endicott edged RWU in the regular season, 8-3, on March 28th in Beverly, Mass. Thursday's Semifinals will be webcasted live online - free of charge - through Endicott All-Access with the pre-game show beginning five minutes before the schedule face-off start time.
