Men’s Lacrosse Rallies Past Nichols, Advances to CCC Semifinals

BOSTON, Mass. – Behind 9-6 with just under four minutes left in the third quarter, the fourth-seeded Wentworth Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team (13-5) used a 6-0 run over the final quarter and change to play to overcome the fifth-seeded Nichols Bison (8-10) by a 12-9 score in the conference quarterfinals Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Leopards advance to the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament Semifinals for the first time since 2004.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Sophomore Tyler Longo (Kingston, N.Y.) gave the Leopards an initial 1-0 lead at the 13:04 mark before another Wentworth tally extended the lead to two at the 10:47 mark. Senior Colby Gillis (Northborough, Mass.) scored for the Bison to cut the deficit to 2-1 before the visitors tallied two more to take a 3-2 lead with 52 seconds left in the opening frame.
• Junior Jack Ellis (Hampton, N.H.) made Nichols' lead 4-2 at the 13:59 mark of the second quarter before goals by Longo and freshman Brendan Kroll (Wakefield, R.I.) tied the score at four aside by the 11:11 mark. Sophomore Conor Doherty (Billerica, Mass.) tallied for the Bison with 8:54 to go before two tallies for Wentworth gave the hosts a 6-5 lead by the 4:37 mark. Gillis and Ellis tallied in a 3-0 run for Nichols in the quarter's wanning minutes, giving the Bison an 8-6 advantage by the halfway mark.
• Doherty extended the Bison's lead to 9-6 at the 3:59 mark of the third quarter before the Leopards knotted the score at nine aside by the 57-second mark on a goal from Kroll and two others from senior Drew Bouley (Gloucester, Mass.), who recently surpassed the 100-career point plateau.
• An early goal for the Leopards at the 14:12 mark gave the Leopards their first lead in the second half before a goal by Bouley at the 12:17 mark and another by Longo at the 1:58 mark gave Wentworth a 12-9 lead, which held as the final score.
• Junior Tom Gardner (West Windsor, N.J.) made 12 saves on 21 shots to preserve the win while senior Connor Charron (Tewksbury, Mass.) went 14-for-24 at the X with a game-high nine ground balls.

SERIES NOTES:

• The Leopards lead the all-time series, 21-9, winning six of the last seven matchups including an 8-7 double overtime win back on April 20.

NEXT UP:

• The fourth-seeded Black & Gold await an opponent to be determined to face in the semifinals on Wednesday, May 1.

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