BEVERLY, Mass. – The first-seeded Endicott men's lacrosse team downed fifth-seeded Curry by a 12-6 score on Wednesday night in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament semifinals at Hempstead Stadium.
With the win, No. 1 Endicott (9-7) will host No. 2 Western New England (8-9) this Saturday in the CCC Championship at 3 PM. The Golden Bears advanced to the league title game earlier tonight with an 11-7 victory over third-seeded University of New England (14-15). Meanwhile, Curry sees its 2017 season come to a close at 10-9.
Will Jennings (Danvers, Mass.) guided Endicott offensively with a game-high six points via five goals and one assist. The Gulls also saw Colin Bannon (Westport, Conn.) bury two tallies, while Bryan McManus (Madison, Conn.), Cam Goodrich (Raynham, Mass.), Chris Reilly (Westwood, Mass.), Teddy Hannon (Duxbury, Mass.), and Luke Wallahan (Pleasant Hill, Calif.) register solo strikes.
Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.) rounded out the list of highlights for Endicott as the senior face-off specialist became the all-time ground balls leader in program history with a game-high 14 tonight. Hughes surpassed Sam Ozycz's school record of 728 with his 10th ground ball of the game at the 9:48 mark of the third quarter. Hughes, who also went 16-for-20 at the face-off X tonight, currently has 733 career ground balls in 74 games played.
Endicott raced out to an 8-4 advantage at the half, and responded to a late Curry run that brought the game within two (8-6, 9:51, 3rd quarter) with a 4-0 run down the stretch to close out the game and secure a spot in the CCC Championship match against rival Western New England this Saturday.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Hughes is two ground balls from reaching the 200-plateau for the second time in his career (200, 2014).
- Grant Thompson (South Hamilton, Mass.) stopped 15 shots in the win (9-4). Thompson recorded four saves in every quarter but the third (three saves), and fell one save shy of tying his single-game career-high (16 vs. Amherst on 3/22/17).
- Endicott dominated the transition game going 16-for-17 on its attempts.
- The Gulls are 24-1 in the all-time series versus Curry.
FOR THE FOES
- Devin Newell (Medford, Mass.) paced the Colonels with three goals and one assist.
- Andrew DeLeary (Wakefield, Mass.) potted two goals while MJ Urbano (Wakefield, Mass.) had the other.
- Shane O'Brien (East Falmouth, Mass.) recorded a game-high and season-high 20 saves in the loss (6-6).
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 1 Endicott (9-7) will host No. 2 Western New England (8-9) this Saturday in the CCC Championship at 3 PM. Meanwhile, Curry sees its 2017 season come to a close at 10-9. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
(Photo credit Allison Moore)