BEVERLY, Mass. – The #15 Endicott men's lacrosse team will go into their annual tilt with #6 Tufts with a 9-2 (5-0 CCC) record after defeating Gordon 26-6 at home on Saturday afternoon. Endicott saw freshman face-off specialist Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.) set a career-high with 24 wins at the "x" and got nine points on six goals and three assists from junior attacker Kyle Weber (West Hartford, Conn.) offensively in the win.
Endicott improved to 20-5 all-time against the Scots as they came three goals shy of tying their program of 29 goals set back in 2008 in a win over Castleton State in the ECAC Semifinals. The Gulls are set to travel to Medford, Massachusetts where they take on Tufts (8-2) who are coming off an 18-3 victory over Hamilton on Saturday. The Blue and Green are 3-10 all-time against the Jumbos with two wins in their previous three meetings including wins over Tufts when they ranked #1 (2011) and #4 (2013) in the country.
Weber's offensive output was complemented by a pair of six-point games from junior midfielder Harrison Cotter (Lordship, Conn.) and freshman attacker Colin Bannon (Westport, Conn.), most of which came in a first half effort that saw Endicott race out to an 11-1 first quarter advantage and a 19-3 halftime lead.
Endicott scored consistently throughout the pace-setting first quarter as the Gulls went on a 7-0 run to start the game. Two of those goals came on unassisted tallies by Cotter with the other five coming from five different goal-scorers including back-to-back marks from junior long-stick midfielder Will Farfalla (Glen Rock, N.J.) and senior defensive midfielder Chris Janelle (Falmouth, Maine), their firsts of the season.
Gordon's junior attacker Jordan Heckelmann (Colorado Springs, Colo.) broke the offensive drought for the Scots with the first of his two goals with 3:42 remaining in the opening quarter, assisted by Ryan Utz (Rochester, N.Y.). Heckelmann added his second goal 1:47 into the second quarter to make the score 13-2 Endicott.
The Scots would also get two goals from sophomore midfielder Roger Evans (Oxford, Pa.) in the third quarter, one which came off a pass from Utz. Utz would finish the game with a team-high three points as he netted an unassisted tally 52 seconds into the fourth quarter with the game out of reach at 25-6.
Endicott's defense was equally as impressive in this game, causing 13 turnovers as a team with junior defenseman Chris Cooney (Cranston, R.I.) setting a career-high with four caused turnovers. Senior defenseman Christopher Summers (Manchester, United Kingdom) tied his career-high with three caused turnovers. Hughes led all players with 15 ground balls, tying a season-high, with Summers adding four. Senior defenseman Breck Merritt (Weston, Mass.) and Cotter each had three ground balls with Merritt adding a caused turnover.
In goal, Endicott's sophomore goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) earned the win by making two saves before giving way to senior Nick Triano (North Andover, Mass.) and freshman Kenny Sturgess (Hampstead, N.H.). Sturgess shined in his fourth quarter appearance with five saves on six Gordon shots on goal.
For the Scots, graduate student Dominic Dantona III (Syosset, N.Y.) and freshman Kody Kettle (Annandale, Va.) each had two caused turnovers. Sophomore attacker Jake Martin (Watertown, Conn.) led Gordon with six ground balls.
Multiple players registered points for the Gulls in this game with graduate student captain Peter Erickson (Yarmouth, Maine), junior midfielder Jeremy Morgan (Lake Panamoka, N.Y.), and junior midfielder Joshau Tordik (Sayville, N.Y.) scoring twice and assisted on another goal. Hughes scored his first collegiate goal, junior midfielder Jonathan Morgan (Lake Panamoka, N.Y.) had a goal and an assist, and senior midfielder Chris Murphy (Holden, Mass.) and freshman attacker Will Jennings (Danvers, Mass.) each finding the back of the cage.
As a team, Endicott outshot Gordon 56-27, held a 45-26 advantage on ground balls, won 25-of-36 face-offs, and successfully cleared 16-of-20 attempts. Endicott scored twice on four man-up opportunities.
