SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Endicott men's lacrosse team used a 5-0 run late in the fourth quarter to complete an 11-10 comeback victory over conference rival Western New England University on Saturday afternoon at Golden Bear Stadium.
Trailing 10-6 with 9:29 left in the contest, the Gulls received two goals from Luke Wallahan (Pleasant Hill, Calif.), along with solo tallies by Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.) and Bryan McManus (Madison, Conn.) to set up the eventual game-winner by Will Clark (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) at the 2:45 mark of the quarter.
Endicott then went on to maintain possession over the next two minutes of the contest thanks in large part to Hughes' 16th and final face-off win of the day. Western New England did get a chance to find the equalizer with under a minute to play, however, but both of the Golden Bears' attempts at 30-seconds and 14-seconds went wide.
Wallahan, McManus, and Will Jennings (Danvers, Mass.) all finished with hat tricks in the victory. Meanwhile, Clark and Hughes concluded the game with one goal apiece. Clark also dished out two assists to tie his career-high in points (3), while Matthew Faucher (Western Springs, Ill.), McManus, and Wallahan each had one helper as well.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- With today's win, the Gulls now have a two-game cushion in the conference standings with their 5-0 record.
- The Blue and Green are also the only undefeated team in league play now.
- Endicott went 12-for-13 in clears (.923).
- Grant Thompson (South Hamilton, Mass.) stopped six shots to move his record to 5-3 overall on the season.
- Hughes went 16-for-24 at the face-off X, and scooped up 12 ground balls.
- McManus also registered a team-high three caused turnovers.
- Today's game featured three lead changes and four tied scores.
FOR THE FOES
- Nicholas Beauchamp (Wilbraham, Mass.) guided Western New England offensively with three goals and one assist.
- Frank Medlicott (Stanwood, Wash.) buried two tallies, while the Golden Bears also saw Jared Ward (Littleton, Mass.), Oskar Djusberg (Abington, Mass.), Keegan Dudeck (Longmeadow, Mass.), Nick Gamba (East Islip, N.Y.), and Marc Fiocco (Somers, N.Y.) find the scoring column.
- Steven Kerr (Hopkinton, Mass.) had a game-high 14 saves in the loss (3-9).
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (5-6, 5-0 CCC) host Salve Regina University on Tuesday, April 11 at 7 PM. Western New England (3-9, 3-1 CCC) travels to Nichols next Tuesday at 4 PM. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.