AMHERST, Mass. – In their second matchup of the week against a top-10 nationally ranked opponent, the sixth-ranked Endicott men's lacrosse team suffered their first loss of the 2015 season to #9 Amherst 16-10 on the road. The Gulls trailed 9-2 at halftime, cut the lead down to just three goals midway through the third quarter, but saw the Lord Jeffs regain momentum and garner the win.
Endicott (5-1) will look to return to the win column with their third game against a NESCAC opponent on Tuesday, March 17th at Middlebury. Face-off with the Panthers is at 4:30 p.m. at Kohn Field in Middlebury, Vermont. Amherst (5-0) travels to Owings Mills, Maryland to take on Washington College on a neutral field on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
Gulls junior goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) registered a career-high 22 saves, 18 of which came in the first half when Bell was peppered by an Amherst attack that outshot Endicott 35-17 over the opening 30 minutes of the game. Amherst's ability to create first half turnovers and maintain possession resulted in a 9-2 lead for the Lord Jeffs after two quarters of play.
Endicott trailed 4-2 at the 8:23 mark of the second quarter after Gulls sophomore attacker Colin Bannon (Westport, Conn.) scored his first goal of the game off an assist from senior midfielder Jonathan Morgan (Lake Panamoka, N.Y.). For the remainder of the second quarter, however, Amherst was in control with five straight goals via five different goal scorers to go into the break up by seven.
Endicott benefited from their halftime adjustments as senior attacker Kyle Weber (West Hartford, Conn.) fueled a 5-1 run that cut the visitor's deficit down to three goals midway through the third quarter. Weber scored all three of his goals during that stretch with senior midfielder Harrison Cotter (Lordship, Conn.) assisting on two marks, one of Weber and another to Bannon.
After an Amherst timeout, the Lord Jeffs regained their composure and took back momentum, scoring three of the final four goals of the third quarter. Amherst went into the fourth quarter ahead 13-8.
The Lord Jeffs built their five goal lead back up to seven on junior attacker Kane Haffey's (Duxbury, Mass.) third goal of the game at 12:38 and junior midfielder Michael Litner's (Villanova, Pa.) second tally just over six minutes later. Back-to-back goals by Bannon and the first career goal by senior defenseman Matt Holzinger (Fairfield, Conn.) gave Endicott a glimmer of hope with 4:25 remaining and trailing 15-10.
Amherst, however, would get one final goal on their fourth man-up conversion of the day to cap the scoring at 16-10. Lord Jeffs junior attacker Charlie Gill (Exeter, N.H.) was the beneficiary of Quinn Moroney's (Manhasset, N.Y.) sixth assist of the game with 1:17 on the clock in the fourth quarter. Moroney also tacked on two goals for a game-high eight points.
Bannon led Endicott with four points on three goals and an assist but the sophomore was penalized five times in the game. Weber also had three goals and both seniors Cotter and fellow midfielder Jeremy Morgan (Lake Panamoka, N.Y.) had three points on a goal and two assists. Holzinger and sophomore attacker Will Jennings (Danvers, Mass.) each had goal and Jonathan Morgan and senior attacker Nick Pinciaro (Beverly, Mass.) each had an assist.
Gulls sophomore face-off specialist Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.) dominated at his position, winning 22-of-30 attempts with a career-high 17 groundballs. Endicott defenseman Ian Knechtle (New Canaan, Conn.) tied his season-high of five caused turnovers in the loss.
Endicott committed 22 turnovers in the loss compared to just 12 by Amherst. Amherst also outshot Endicott 51-34. The Gulls were 19-of-23 on clear opportunities while Amherst was a near perfect 28-of-29. On man-up, Endicott struggled at 1-for-7 with Jennings registering that extra-man goal. Amherst was 4-of-11 with the man-advantage as Gill scored both his goals man-up.
