Posted: Mar 24, 2012
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BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men’s lacrosse team earned their first victory over a non-conference nationally ranked opponent this season, defeating \#12 Springfield 9-7 on the road to move above .500 for the first time this season.
The \#20 Gulls (4-3, 2-0 CCC) had previously gone up against RIT, Stevens and Amherst who were all \#7 on the date of competition, but came up short in each of those games. Endicott will now anticipate a jump up in the national standings after beginning the year as the preseason 14th ranked team in the country.
After a relatively quiet first quarter that saw both the Gulls and Pride score one goal, Endicott exploded in the second and third periods by outscoring the opposition 7-2 to take an 8-3 lead. In the final quarter, however, Springfield rallied to outscore Endicott over the final 15 minutes but was not enough as the Pride lost on their home turf.
Peter Erickson’s (Yarmouth, Maine) man-up goal at 6:25 from Brendan Eppley (Darien, Conn.) and Springfield attacker Dylan Sheehan’s (Massapequa, N.Y.) tally with an assist to Ryon Lynch (Frederick, Md.) under four minutes later in the first quarter kept the game tied at 1-1 heading into the second.
Endicott’s offensive in the second and third quarters began with three goals to put the Gulls ahead 4-1. Freshman Kyle Weber (West Hartford, Conn.) scored his ninth goal of the season off a pass from Jon Thanas (Cumberland, R.I.), followed by goals by Connor Prescott (Norwalk, Conn.) and Jake Heger (Longmeadow, Mass.) to cap off the run that saw three goals over a span of 2:42. Heger’s goal, his second goal in as many games, came from defender Kyle Burke (Haverhill, Mass.).
Springfield’s Sheehan stopped the bleeding momentarily with his second goal of the game with 2:15 to go in the half. The two teams went into the break with Endicott ahead 4-2.
In the third, the Blue and Green netted four of the five goals in the period including two unassisted put ins by Thanas and one apiece for freshmen Joshua Tordik (Sayville, N.Y.) and Harrison Cotter (Lordship, Conn.).
Tordik would score his second at the 11:09 mark, unassisted, to put the scoreboard at 9-4 in favor of the Gulls.
It would be the last goal Endicott would score as the Pride attempted a comeback with three straight, two coming from senior Shane Ferguson (Mamaroneck, N.Y.). Sandwiched in between Ferguson’s goals was an unassisted tally by Mike Delia (Wading River, N.Y.).
Ferguson’s final goal came at 2:09. Springfield had the ball late in the game but Endicott goalie Tom Burke (Sudbury, Mass.) came up with a big save, one of his nine on the day, and sophomore Breck Merritt (Weston, Mass.) caused a turnover with under two minutes to go to thwart Springfield’s effort.
Eppley finished with two assists with Burke and Thanas each contributing with one. Merritt led the team with two caused turnovers while junior face-off man Sam Ozycz (Cheshire, Conn.) had a team-high six groundballs. Ozycz also went 10-for-19 on face-offs.
Endicott was 1-for-3 on extra-man opportunities while shutting out Springfield on four chances with the man advantage.
