May 2, 2009
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - For the second straight year, No. 12 Western New England College has ended the \#16-ranked Endicott College men's lacrosse season as the Golden Bears won their second-consecutive The Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship with a 12-7 victory over the Gulls. WNEC (16-2) grabs the automatic qualifier from the TCCC and will move onto the NCAA Tournament next week. The Gulls (15-4) hope to hear their name called on Sunday and gain an at-large bid into the tournament.
This was another hard-hitting, exciting contest between two top programs.
Brody Savoie (Wilbraham, Mass.) gave the hosts a 1-0 lead at 11:48 of the opening period before junior Brad Lipkvich (Madison, Conn.) put Endicott on the board at the 5:44 mark.
Freshman Patrick White (Milton, Mass.) gave WNEC a lead it would never relinquish just seven seconds later. Western New England College went on to take a 5-2 advantage after the first period and maintained a three-goal edge (6-3) at the break. Savoie and sophomore Marty O'Brien (West Springfield, MA) netted goals in an 18-second span for a 9-4 lead with 6:21 remaining in the third stanza.
Endicott rallied using another goal by Lipkvich later in the period and a score by sophomore Chris Cotter (Fairfield, Conn.) with 10:55 left in the game to get within striking distance at 9-6. However, Western New England College broke the game open with three straight goals and Savoie fired home his final goal for a 12-6 margin with 4:35 left in the game.
The Golden Bears ran their winning-streak to 10 games as this was the second straight TCCC title for the Golden Bears who defeated the Gulls 12-10 last year. WNEC also captured the Pilgrim League crown in its final appearance in 2007.
Senior Brody Savoie had a six-point outing with five goals and an assist and junior Tim Santye (Skillman, N.J.) contributed two goals and two assists for the Golden Bears while White finished with a pair of goals and an assist. Junior Bill Greider (South Windsor, Conn.) won 11-of-19 face-offs and picked-up a game high seven ground balls. Freshman goalie Brewster Knowlton (Somers, Conn.) had a solid performance with 15 saves.
Senior Eddie O'Reilly (Beverly, MA) had a goal and assist for Endicott while senior Nick Cosco (Londonderry, N.H.) chipped-in with three assists. Senior goalie Eric Hagarty (Sudbury, Mass.) finished with 16 saves.
