BOSTON, Mass. – A career-high eight points from sophomore attacker Will Jennings (Danvers, Mass.) fueled an Endicott men's lacrosse 17-5 win over CCC member Wentworth on Tuesday night as the nation's 11th-ranked Gulls improved to 7-2 (3-0 CCC). Jennings, whose previous personal-best was three points, shattered his career-high with five goals and three assists.
Endicott, winners of back-to-back conference games, returns to their non-conference slate on Saturday, April 4th when they take on NESCAC rival Bowdoin. Face-off with the Polar Bears in Brunswick, Maine starts at 12:00 p.m.
In a game that saw the Gulls control possession with 18-of-25 faceoff wins from sophomore Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.) and a 49-32 groundball advantage as a team, Endicott was able to litter Leopards goalie Adam Dufault (Lexington, Mass.) with 28 shots on goal. Down the other end, Endicott junior goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Mass.) made six saves in the cage en route to winning his seventh contest of the season while facing 11 shots on net.
Four of Jennings' five goals and seven of his eight points came in the opening two quarters as Endicott quickly raced out to a 5-2 lead after the first 15 minutes and 9-3 by the halftime break. Along with Jennings, senior attacker Nick Pinciaro (Beverly, Mass.) found the back of the net three times, twice from Jennings at even strength, and once more with the man advantage from fellow senior Jeremy Morgan (Lake Panamoka, N.Y.). Pinciaro would another man-up goal in the fourth quarter from Jeremy's brother Jonathan with just under six minutes remaining in the game.
With a convincing lead already in hand, Endicott maintain their offensive pressure with the help of senior attacker Kyle Weber (West Hartford, Conn.) who scored all five of his goals in the second half. One of his goals came off a pass from senior midfielder Harrison Cotter (Lordship, Conn.) who recorded two assists in the win.
Defensively, Endicott leaned on junior Fabrian Brunner (Niskayuna, N.Y.) and freshman Michael Ryan (Falmouth, Mass.) to shutdown Wentworth's offensive weapons with four and two caused turnovers, respectively. Junior Ben Katzen (Blauvelt, N.Y.) also forced a Leopard turnover.
Hughes led all players with 11 groundballs, Bell and Ryan each had six, and both Pinciaro and senior defenseman Ian Knechtle (New Canaan, Conn.) scooped up four apiece.
Pinciaro matched both Jennings and Weber with five goals scored with two assists on top of that. Jeremy Morgan added a goal to his three assists while junior attacker Mitchell Tapley (Falmouth, Maine) beat the goalie at the 5:32 mark of the first quarter to make it 4-1 Endicott.
Endicott finished the game 20-of-24 on clear attempts and 4-of-6 on man-up opportunities compared to 14-of-20 on clears and 1-of-4 on man-up by Wentworth. Leopards sophomore midfielder Mike Coakley (Flemington, N.J.) led the home team with two goals and two assists and junior attacker Alec Paradis (Pelham, N.H.) added three points on two goals and one assist.
