BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott sophomore attacker Nick Pinciaro (Beverly, Mass.) totaled six points on three goals and three assists as the Gulls men's lacrosse team won 11-6 over non-conference rival Springfield to improve to 5-3 (1-0 CCC) heading into the bulk of their CCC schedule starting next week.
Endicott won their fourth straight game over the Pride and their seventh in nine meetings dating back to the 2002 seasons. Two goals and one assist by Pinciaro in the first quarter alone helped Endicott storm out to a 5-1 advantage, and while the Pride battled back to pull within one at 6-5 early in the second half, the Gulls were able to regain momentum and outscore Springfield 4-1 over the final 15 minutes of the game.
Freshman goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) made nine saves in goal for Endicott en route to winning his fifth game of the season. His counterpart, junior Robert Maher (Katonah, N.Y.) settled down after a shaky first quarter to make 12 saves and help his squad get back in the game.
The Endicott defense caused 18 of Springfield's 26 turnovers. Senior defender Anthony Martignetti (Winchester, Mass.) led the way with three caused turnovers while both senior Kyle Burke (Haverhill, Mass.) and junior Breck Merritt (Weston, Mass.) had two each.
Endicott midfielder Chris Murphy (Holden, Mass.) assisted on two of his team's five first quarter goals as the junior finished with three total assists in the game. Two of his assists were on goals by Pinciaro including the first one of the game and another with 4:22 remaining in the fourth quarter to put Endicott on top 10-6.
Senior attack Connor McCormack (Norwalk, Conn.) and sophomore midfielder Harrison Cotter (Lordship, Conn.) both scored two goals in the game including one apiece in the first quarter.
Trailing 5-1 at the start of the second quarter, Springfield quickly shifted momentum with back-to-back goals at 14:20 and another just eight seconds later. Pride junior midfielder Kevin Freeman (Minisink, N.Y.), from Kevin Sainte (Belmont, Mass.), beat the goalie followed by junior attacker Ryan Murphy's (Mansfield, Mass.) tally, from Ryon Lynch (Frederick, Md.), just moments later. McCormack's second goal of the game put Endicott up 6-3 but an unassisted score by Springfield's sophomore midfielder Bryce Serriello (Cape Cod, Mass.) made it 6-4 heading into halftime.
Another quick goal at the start of the second half by Freeman brought the Pride to within one at 6-5 and Endicott's Kyle Weber (West Hartford, Conn.) goal at the 4:24 mark of the third quarter made it a two goal advantage in favor of the Blue and Green.
Endicott outscored Springfield 4-1 in the fourth quarter behind goals by Cotter and Pinciaro as well as sophomore Jonathan Morgan (Ridge, N.Y.) and freshman midfielder Mitchell Tapley (Falmouth, Maine). Both Morgan and Tapley's goals were unassisted with Tapley's coming on a man-up opportunity. Endicott finished the game 2-for-2 on the extra-man advantage while Springfield was 0-3.
Sam Ozycz (Cheshire, Conn.) won 13-of-21 face-off attempts with a game-high 11 groundballs. Burke, Martignetti, Merritt, and junior defenseman Lucas Paratore (Wenham, Mass.) also contributed with four groundballs each.
Springfield was led by six groundballs from junior midfielder Branden Fernandez (Warwick, N.Y.) and another four from sophomore Matt Dalton (Somers, N.Y.).
Endicott hosts another game on Wednesday, March 27th at 7:00 pm against CCC opponent Curry. Endicott and Curry are meeting from the first time since the 2012 ECAC DIII New England Semifinals when the Gulls won 12-10 to get into the championship game. Springfield plays Bowdoin at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, March 26th at Merrimack College.
