No. 5 Amherst Edges Men’s Lacrosse, 15-14

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's lacrosse team fell to No. 5 nationally ranked Amherst by a 15-14 score on Tuesday night in non-conference action at Hempstead Stadium.

Will Jennings (Danvers, Mass.) guided Endicott's attack with five goals and two assists, while Colin Bannon (Westport, Conn.) added two goals and two assists in the loss. Mitchell Tapley (Falmouth, Maine) also registered a multi-point game (2g, 1a) alongside teammates Peter Field Jr. (Hampstead, N.H.) and Hayden Souza (West Hartford, Conn.) who both tallied one goal and one assist, respectively.

Matthew Faucher (Western Springs, Ill.), Thomas Harvey (Huntington, N.Y.), and Shane Hughes (York Beach, Maine) rounded out the offense with solo markers.

Tied 7-7 nearly midway through the second quarter, Amherst orchestrated a 5-1 run to close out the half before holding on for the 15-14 win. Charlie Gill (Exeter, N.H.) started the run for Amherst at the 6:20 mark, Kane Haffey (Duxbury, Mass.) potted a hat-trick, and Dylan Park (Charlottesville, Va.) capped the offensive outburst with one-second remaining to play in the stanza for the 12-8 advantage at the break.

Endicott went on to outscore Amherst 6-3 in the second half behind three goals from Jennings, but a man-up goal by Gill with 10:15 to play in the contest, which made the score 15-12 in favor of the visitors, was just enough despite the Gulls' comeback efforts that featured tallies from Hughes (9:54) and Faucher (5:03) down the stretch.

Amherst goalie Cody Tranbarger (Louisville, Ky.) stopped 10 shots in the win (5-1). Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) recorded a game-high 13 saves in the loss (2-6).

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott won the matchup at the face-off X (21-for-31) and the ground ball battle (35-32).
• The Gulls have won the face-off category against every opponent this season, and have only lost in the ground ball column versus one opponent this year.
• Amherst owns a 9-2 record in the all-time series versus Endicott.
• Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.) went 21-for-31 at the face-off X and collected a team-high nine ground balls.

FOR THE FOES

• Amherst is currently ranked No. 5 in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) national poll.
• Amherst controlled the possession battle, despite being outperformed at the face-off X (10-for-31), by going a perfect 18-for-18 on clear attempts.
• Haffey led the team with four goals, while Chris Albanese (Westfield, N.J.), and Gill all had three goals to highlight the goal scorers for Amherst.
• Albanese also added two assists in the win to lead Amherst in points with five.
• Quinn Moroney (Manhasset, N.Y.) finished the night with four points (1g, 3a).

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (2-6) hosts Gordon College in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) matchup next Wednesday at 4 p.m. Amherst (5-1) welcomes Hamilton to its campus this Saturday for a league contest at 1 p.m.

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