AUBURNDALE, Mass. – Freshman James Anderson's (Medway, Mass.) goal 1:20 into overtime lifted the Lasell College men's lacrosse team to a 9-8 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action at Grellier Field.
Anderson's heroics spoiled a furious comeback by the Leopards, who trailed 6-1 with 3:59 left in the third quarter and 7-3 with 8:53 left in the contest before rallying to tie the game twice; once with 2:58 left (7-7) and with just 90 seconds left (8-8).
Both teams struggled to get going offensively which led to a scoreless first quarter. The scoring drought continued into the second quarter before the Lasers scored twice with sophomore Andrew Fidalgo (Wilbraham, Mass.) and freshman Jordan Hines (Essex Junction, Vt.) finding the back of the net at 11:33 and 6:24, respectively. Lasell scored the first three goals of the third quarter to take a 5-0 lead with 8:56 left, thanks to markers from Fidalgo and Anderson as well as senior Mike Susi (Gorham, Maine). Wentworth broke through with 5:00 left in the frame on a man-up goal from junior Kyle Doner (Lindenhurst, N.Y.). Sixty-one seconds later, freshman Bash Cunningham (Norwalk, Conn.) made it a 6-1 game before sophomore Steven Russman (Troy, N.Y.) brought the Black & Gold back to within four with 1:38 left.
Wentworth began its comeback with a goal from senior Jason Buck (Manlius, N.Y.) 1:48 into the fourth quarter. Hines made it 7-3 when he scored with 8:53 left. Freshman Sam Prunier (Hollis, N.H.) began a run of four straight Wentworth goals when he scored with 6:45 left. Sophomore Ben Coakley (Flemington, N.J.) and senior Matt Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) scored within 1:28 of each other to pull the Leopards to within one. Sophomore Andrew DiPalma (West Orange, N.J.) tied the game with 2:58 remaining, however, Susi gave the hosts the led back just 46 seconds later. With 1:30 remaining, Buck evened the score at 8-all. The Black & Gold won the ensuing faceoff but turned the ball over to Lasell, who nearly won the game at the end of regulation, however, it was ruled the game-winning goal was scored after time expired.
The Lasers won the faceoff to start overtime and had a shot attempt less than a minute in. After regaining possession off the wide shot attempt, Anderson netted the golden goal with 2:40 left.
Anderson, Fidalgo, Hines, and Susi each had two goals apiece for Lasell, while senior David Sheehan scooped up five ground balls.
DiPalma finished with a goal and two assists while Buck had two goals and Larsen tallied a goal and an assist. Sophomore Danny Bartosiewicz (North Grafton, Mass.) scooped up a game-high six ground balls and sophomore Anthony D'Avolio (Reading, Mass.) caused three turnovers. At the X, sophomore Tom Rockwell (Andover, Mass.) was 7-of-14 while freshman Radu Stancescu (Suffern, N.Y.) was 4-of-6.
Freshman Alex Beauchemin (Westfield, Mass.) made 11 saves in the win while sophomore Randy Ryan (Clinton, N.J.) stopped eight shots. Wentworth had advantages in shots (31-29) and ground balls (36-27).
Wentworth (2-6) hosts Emmanuel on Thursday night.
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