HENNIKER, N.H. – New England College senior John Gabriel (West Nyack, N.Y.) recorded six goals and dished out an assist leading the Pilgrims past the Wentworth Institute of Technology Leopards 14-10 in men's lacrosse action Wednesday afternoon.
With the win the Pilgrims even their overall record at 3-3 and pick up their first The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) win of the season improving to 1-1 in conference play. The loss drops the Leopards to 1-2 on the season and 0-2 in the TCCC.
New England College would jump out to the early lead scoring the first six goals of the contest, including two by Gabriel and two by Ben Berry (Danvers, Mass.). Wentworth's Patrick Helfrich (North Andover, Mass.) would get the Leopards on the board with 5:05 remaining in the first. The Pilgrims would get the goal back as Gabriel would net his third goal of the afternoon assisted by Berry in the final seconds of the opening quarter.
Wentworth would take advantage of two man-up opportunities early in the second quarter cutting NEC's lead to 8-4 just over four minutes in. The Pilgrims would respond finishing the half with three unanswered goals to head into halftime up 11-4.
NEC would extend their lead to 13-4 in the third quarter as Brian Gillis (North Vancouver, B.C.) would net his second goal of the season and Gabriel would record the lone man-up goal of the afternoon for the Pilgrims.
Wentworth would respond in the fourth quarter as the Leopards would score six straight goals, including three by Helfrich and two by Jeff Guilherme (Derry, N.H.), slicing the NEC lead to 13-10. NEC would hold strong in the final minutes as Berry would tack on a goal late and the Pilgrims would go on to capture the 14-10 victory.
Wentworth outshot NEC 48-35 on the afternoon, while NEC held the 46-39 advantage in ground balls.
NEC's Ben Berry finished with three goals and an assist, while Brian Gillis and Sam Freihofner (Searsdale, N.Y.) each netted two goals for the Pilgrims.
Wentworth's Patrick Helfrich led the way for the Leopards with four goals, while Jeff Guilherme scored two goals and had two assists.
Picking up the win in net for NEC was Nick Aquaviva (Syracuse, N.Y.) who finished the afternoon with 12 saves. Seeing the bulk of the time in net for Wentworth was Matt O'Connor (Duxbury, Mass.) who recorded five saves. He came on in relief of Jeff Bathalon (Maynard, Mass.).
-Release Courtesy of New England College Sports Information-