BEVERLY, Mass. – The ninth-ranked Endicott men's lacrosse team and NEWMAC rival Springfield combined offensively for 36 goals and 22 assists and gave each other plenty of extra-man opportunities with 21 infractions but the Gulls came out on top 22-14 to remain a perfect 4-0 on the season heading into a showdown with #3 Lynchburg on Tuesday, March 10th at home.
#9 Endicott (4-0, 1-0 CCC) and #3 Lynchburg (2-0, 0-0 ODAC) will face-off at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday inside Endicott Stadium in the first-ever meeting between the two nationally-ranked programs.
Saturday against Springfield (2-2), the Gulls saw senior attacker Nick Pinciaro (Beverly, Mass.) registered a career-high nine points, besting his previous record of six points from last season's win over Bowdoin, via six goals and three assists. Two of his goals came in the first quarter, including one as time expired in the period, as Endicott held an 8-4 lead. He would also score a pair of goals during a seven-goal rally by Endicott lasting nearly eight minutes over the third and fourth quarters that stretched the Gulls lead from 14-10 to 21-10.
Endicott senior midfielder Harrison Cotter (Lordship, Conn.) contributed his best offensively output to-date this season with four points via two goals and two assists. Cotter came alive in the second half, first assist on a Pinciaro goal at the 2:08 mark of the third quarter to before netting two unassisted strikes and assisting on Pinciaro's man-up goal in the fourth quarter. Also with four points for the Gulls was sophomore attacker Colin Bannon (Westport, Conn.) who continued to torment opposing defenses with another three goals and an assist. Bannon currently leads the team in points with 24, is tied with senior Kyle Weber (West Hartford, Conn.) with 11 goals, and has a conference-leading 13 assists this season.
After holding their previous two opponents to single digit goal outputs, Endicott's defense at times struggled to contain Springfield's attack including senior Dylan Sheehan (Massapequa, N.Y.), junior Tony LaGuerre (Shrub Oak, N.Y.), and junior Brendan Boss (West Springfield, Mass.). Sheehan himself had six points on two goals and a season-high four assists while LaGuerre scored three of Springfield's five man-up goals and Boss found the back of the net twice with an assist in the first half.
Endicott's defense did, however, manage to produce nine caused turnovers with Cotter and senior defenseman Ian Knechtle (New Canaan, Conn.) each recording two apiece. Knechtle, who also scooped up seven groundballs, also made his presence felt offensively with his first two goals in two seasons as a member of the Endicott men's lacrosse program. Knechtle previously had a three-goal, five-assist season with Gordon in 2012.
Springfield's senior long-stick midfielder Matt Dalton (Somers, N.Y.) led all players with three caused turnovers in the loss.
Between the pipes, Endicott junior goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) made 12 saves in recording his fourth victory of the season. His counterpart, Pride junior Kevin Ostrom (Cape Cod, Mass.) made nine saves but allowed 20 goals in dropping to 2-2 on the year.
On face-offs, Pride senior Mark Gonzalez (Tolland, Conn.) won 17 meetings at the "x" with Endicott sophomore Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.) who took home 15 wins with a game-high nine groundballs. Endicott sophomore Shane Hughes (York Beach, Maine) came on in relief late in the fourth quarter and won two of his four face-off attempts.
Springfield continues their 2015 season at home on Saturday, March 14th against fourth-ranked Union out of the Liberty League. Face-off is at 1:00 p.m.
