Gulls breeze by Nor'easters into semifinals

Gulls breeze by Nor'easters into semifinals

Box Score

BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott College scored seven goals in the first quarter and led 11-2 at halftime en route to a 16-4 TCCC quarterfinal men’s lacrosse win over the visiting University of New England on Saturday afternoon in Beverly, Mass. The top-seeded Gulls, who improve to 11-7, will host Roger Williams on Wednesday after the Hawks defeated Salve Regina, 12-11, on Saturday.

Endicott opened the day by rattling off six straight goals in the opening 12:55 of the first quarter to stake an early 6-0 advantage. \#Jack Curtis\# (Chelmsford, Mass.) had it going early on, tallying a goal and three assists in the opening frame. UNE interrupted the rally when Tyler Thomas (Pleasantville, N.Y.) scored off a fast-break turnover for the Nor’easters’ lone goal of the quarter. The Gulls led 7-1 after one.

It was much of the same in the second stanza as the Blue and Green poured in four more goals while allowing just one, giving the Gulls a decisive 11-2 lead at the intermission. Freshman attacker \#Brian Estes\# (Derry, N.H.) scored on back-to-back goals in the middle of the second and \#Chris Cotter\# (Fairfield, Conn.) notched his second of the day with just 36 seconds remaining before the break. Senior goalkeeper \#Eric Hagarty\# (Sudbury, Mass.) made seven saves in total in the first half.

UNE’s Michael Woods (Kittery Point, Maine) opened the scoring in the second half just 2:02 into the third quarter as he deposited an inside shot from just outside the crease into the top right corner. The Gulls responded with a four-goal run before Woods scored again in the game’s closing minutes. The Blue and Green tacked on one final strike for good measure, this time from \#Harry Holden\# (Duxbury, Mass.), to secure the 16-4 playoff win.

\#Brian Estes\# and \#Connor McCormack\# (Norwalk, Conn.) each had three goals in the victory. \#Jack Curtis\# finished with two goals and four assists, while \#Jonathan Prentice\# (Chelmsford, Mass.) had a pair of goals. \#Brad Lipkvich\# (Madison, Conn.) scored once and added two helpers for the Blue and Green.

Michael Woods paced the Nor’easters’ offense with two tallies, while Steven Beem (Barre, Vt.) and Tyler Thomas each had a single goal. Nate Porter (Cohasset, Mass.) finished with 11 saves in the losing effort.

Endicott outshot UNE at a 49-29 clip. The Gulls won 17-of-24 faceoff attempts with Sam Ozycz (Cheshire, Conn.) going 16-for-22 at the midfield X with seven groundballs.