CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team suffered its first loss of the season to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 12-9, at Roberts Field on Thursday afternoon. Both teams shift to 3-1 overall with the result.
Freshman Ben Coakley (Flemington, N.J.) broke open the scoring with just over four minutes expired on the game clock, before MIT rookie Mark Heatzig (Boca Raton, Fla.) scored back-to-back goals to give the Engineers a 2-1 lead after the first quarter. MIT carried momentum into the second frame, and went on the offensive for five goals to Wentworth's three. Coakley scored his second of the game off a dish from junior Sean Brennan (Stony Point, N.Y.), bookended by two MIT markers to trail 5-2 with 8:27 left in the half. Leopards' leading scorer Kyle Doner (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) cut the deficit to two with freshman Jack O'Neill (Groton, Mass.) assisting on the goal, before, senior Jake Ollila (Goffstown, N.H.) put Wentworth on MIT's doorstep at 3:59 for the 5-4 score.
Two unanswered goals from MIT gave the hosts a 7-4 advantage headed into halftime, before senior Mitch Turley (Westfield, Ind.) boosted the Engineers' lead just 34 seconds into the third quarter. Junior Jacob Eldred (Goffstown, N.H.) responded with a point for Wentworth with Coakley on the dime, as both teams traded a pair of goals to end the quarter, including a man-up goal from senior Kevin Butler (Jefferson, Mass).
The Leopards outscored MIT in the final frame 3-1, but couldn't close the gap, as Heatzig completed the hat-trick in the final minute for the home team.
Senior Scott Boucher (Salisbury, N.H.) suffered the loss in the cage for Wentworth and recorded three saves in first-half action. Classmate Adam Dufault (Lexington, Mass.) played 30 minutes of second-half relief, and turned away 11 of 15 shots faced, a season-high for the senior.
Freshman Paul Sender (Closter, N.J.), recently named as the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Rookie of the Week, went 7-of-21 from the faceoff X, while Brennan, CCC Defensive Player of the Week, collected seven ground balls, adding to his team-high 24 this season.
Wentworth is back in action on Saturday for a 4:00 p.m. non-conference matchup at Emerson.
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