BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's lacrosse team suffered their first loss of the 2014 season on Friday evening as NESCAC rivals Amherst scored a road victory over the 11th-ranked Gulls 11-10 under the lights of North Field. The Lord Jeffs trailed 7-4 with 7:29 remaining in the third quarter but rattled off seven straight goals and warded off a late Endicott rally despite facing multiple man-down situations in the final minutes of regulation.
Endicott (4-1) will travel south to Clermont, Florida where they will take on #9 Springfield at the National Training Center on Wednesday, March 19th at 12:00 pm. The Gulls are 7-2 all-time against the Pride including four straight victories. Amherst (3-1) will have three games in the same facility in Florida starting with Western New England on Tuesday, March 18th at 6:00 pm.
Trailing 11-7 after Amherst scored seven straight goals to take control of the game, Endicott leaned on second-leading goal scorer Harrison Cotter (Lordship, Conn.) and leading assist man Joshua Tordik (Sayville, N.Y.) to help the Gulls get back in the game. Cotter scored his third of the game with 4:51 remaining to make it a three-goal game and with a tripping call on the play, the Gulls pulled within two just 39 seconds later on Jeremy Morgan's (Lake Panamoka, N.Y.) 10th goal of the season off Tordik's third assist of the game.
Endicott took advantage of another Amherst penalty and scored with just 32 seconds on the clock, Cotter from Pinciaro, to make it 11-10 but the Jeffs were able to run out the clock to beat the previously unbeaten goals.
Amherst's streak of seven straight goals starting at the 4:54 mark of the third quarter, an unassisted goal from senior midfielder Aaron Mathias (Ridgefield, Conn.) scored again on a man-up opportunity early in the fourth, ran to the 5:24 mark of the fourth quarter as first year midfielder Matt Killian (Summit, N.J.) netted his only goal of the game. Killian's goal, just his second this spring, proved to be the game winner for Jeffs who improved to 7-2 all-time against Endicott.
Amherst was led by seven points from sophomore attacker Quinn Maroney (Manhasset, N.Y.) who tallied two goals but dished five assists including two to senior Devin Acton (Sudbury, Mass.) who matched Cotter with a game-high four goals. Senior goalie Greg Majno (Sudbury, Mass.) improved to 3-1 on the year after stopping 13 shots in the cage. He was helped defensively Kevin Curry (Holliston, Mass.) who had a team-high two caused turnovers.
For the Gulls, Cotter's four goals were a team-high but he was complemented by five points from Tordik, two goals and three assists, and two goals and one assist from Morgan. Sophomore goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) made 10 saves in net with four ground balls but suffered his first loss of the season.
On face-offs, Endicott freshman Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.) won 16-of-25 attempts and scooped a game-high 10 ground balls. Tordik and Cotter combined for 12 ground balls.
