SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The two remaining teams with undefeated conference records in the CCC faced off on Saturday and #8 Endicott men's lacrosse came out on top with a 19-9 win over Western New England to see their 2015 record improve to 12-3 overall. The Gulls now sit alone atop the CCC standings with a 7-0 conference record heading into their regular season finale at Curry on Wednesday, April 22nd.
Seniors Harrison Cotter (Lordship, Conn.), Nick Pinciaro (Beverly, Mass.), and Kyle Weber (West Hartford, Conn.) combined to pour in 11 goals past the Golden Bears goalie. Sophomore attacker Colin Bannon (Westport, Conn.) added three goals and two assists and the Morgan twins Jonathan and Jeremy totaled three goals and two assists between the two of them.
Endicott's junior goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) made 10 saves in the cage as he earned his 12th victory of the season.
As a team, Endicott outshot Western New England 44-36, held a 40-31 groundball advantage, converted 19-of-23 clear attempts, and went 2-of-5 on man-up opportunities. On face-offs, Endicott won 15-of-32 attempts as sophomore Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.) scooped up a game-high 10 groundballs. Bell (7) and Cotter (6) each contributed to Endicott's groundball advantage.
Cotter and Weber led Endicott's offensive charge with four goals apiece with Cotter adding an assist. Pinciaro's three goals pulled him to within one of 50 for the season and his three assists pushed him up to 19 assists on the year.
Endicott and Western New England went back-and-forth over the opening quarter as the Gulls held a 5-3 lead after a Golden Bears goal by Garrett Mullins (Jefferson Township, N.J.) at the 3:37 mark. Endicott the quarter by scoring four straight goals, including two only 18 seconds apart by Weber, to lead 8-3 after one quarter. That momentum carried into the second quarter as the Endicott scored the first three goals of the period to lead 11-3. An unassisted tally by Western New England's Justin Bard (Westfield, Mass.) made it an 11-4 score at halftime.
The two teams each scored three goals apiece in the third quarter as Endicott maintained their seven-goal lead but in the fourth, the Gulls finished strong by outscoring the Golden Bears 5-2 including the game's final tally just five seconds after a Western New England as Hughes won a face-off and found Bannon up the field for his third goal.