BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Ryan Coakley (Flemington, N.J.) scored two goals and tallied three assists to give him 200 career points, as the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team defeated Norwich 9-6 in non-conference action Thursday night at Sweeney Field.
Following the first meeting between the two programs, the Leopards improve to 8-6 while the Cadets falls to 5-7.
Norwich jumped ahead first with a goal from freshman Jared Thompson (Linthicum, Md.) two and a half minutes into the action. Junior Matt Flaherty (Portland, Maine) picked up the assist on the lone goal of the first quarter.
The second quarter was all Wentworth, as the Leopards tacked on four straight goals. Junior Alec Paradis (Pelham, N.H.) scored the first Leopards goal from Coakley. Five minutes later at 8:01, senior Michael Cushera (Waltham, Mass.) scored to give Wentworth the lead. Prior to the two minute mark, freshman Kevin Butler (Jefferson, Mass.) joined in on the scoring. Paradis tacked on another goal with 21 seconds remaining to give the Black and Gold the 4-1 lead going into halftime.
Flaherty started the scoring in the second half to give the Cadets their second score of the night. Three minutes later, Cushera scored his second of the night to make it 5-2. Paradis then scored his third of the night to make it 6-2 with 7:51 left. With 2:01, Coakley scored the Leopards' third straight goal to put Wentworth up 7-2. Senior Andrew Beechinor (Andover, Mass.) ended Wentworth's scoring streak just eight seconds later when he picked up a ground ball off the ensuing faceoff and went in for the goal. Freshman Matt Thresher (Somers, Conn.) rounded out the third quarter by scoring with 56 ticks left to make it 7-4 going into the fourth.
Sophomore Sean Farmer (Billerica, Mass.) scored his first of the year to start the fourth quarter. Junior Ryan McCarthy (Medford, Mass.) responded by scoring his first of 2015, making the score 8-5. Coakley then scored with under five minutes remaining to give him 40 goals this season and 200 career points; the first player in program history to do so. Senior Seth Fuller (Wheaton, Ill.) scored his team-leading 22nd goal of the season with under two minutes remaining, but the Cadets couldn't muster up a comeback, as the Leopards prevailed, 9-6.
Paradis finished with three goals and an assist and Cushera had two goals and an assist. Junior Tim Parlato (Needham, Mass.) picked up seven ground balls and sophomore Eric Iacaboni (Sterling, Mass.) had six ground balls and three caused turnovers.
Six different players scored for the Cadets, including Flaherty, who also had an assist. Senior Andrew Bracy (Carthage, N.Y.) was 10-for-12 at the X and classmate C.J. Dolan picked up eight ground balls.
Freshman goalie Adam Dufault (Lexington, Mass.) made nine saves in a winning effort. Senior counterpart Ryan Fecteau (Danvers, Mass.) stopped 10 shots in net for Norwich. Wentworth held a 30-22 shot advantage and Norwich won the ground ball battle 42-40.
Both teams are in action on Saturday. Wentworth hosts Lasell at Noon while Norwich is at St. Joseph's of Maine.