BEVERLY, Mass. – The first-seeded Endicott men's lacrosse team will host second-seeded Western New England University (WNEU) in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament title game at Hempstead Stadium on Saturday, May 6 at 3 PM. This weekend's matchup will mark the fifth straight season both programs have met in the championship game, and eighth time overall (2008, 2009, 2011, 2013-17).
THE MATCHUP/ALL-TIME SERIES
Western New England holds an 11-9 advantage in the all-time series versus Endicott. In this year's regular season matchup, the Gulls defeated the Golden Bears, 11-10, on 4/8/17 despite trailing 10-6 with 9:29 left in that 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. (BOX SCORE | RECAP)
SCOUTING ENDICOTT: The Gulls are 9-1 in their last 10 games headed into Saturday's title game. Meanwhile, Endicott's conference ranks include: goals (fourth, 189), assists (fourth, 114), goals per game (third, 11.81), ground balls (third, 658), caused turnovers (fourth, 128), face-offs won (first, 290), goals against average (fifth, 10.44), save percentage (fifth, 53.7).
SCOUTING WNEU: The Golden Bears have won five straight entering the CCC Championship, and have outscored their opponents 72-31. In two of those five wins, WNEU has held its opposition to five goals or less (10-5 win vs. Nichols | 12-3 win vs. Wentworth). The Golden Bears conference ranks include: goals (fifth, 175), assists (fifth, 103), ground balls (ninth, 448), caused turnovers (eighth, 87), face-offs won (fifth, 223), goals against average (seventh, 11.18), save percentage (sixth, 52.9).
WHAT'S NEXT
The winner of Saturday's game will represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
(Photo credit - Allison Moore)