SPRINGFIELD – The Endicott men’s lacrosse team fell to No. 14 nationally ranked Western New England University (WNEU), 14-12, in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament championship game on Saturday afternoon at Golden Bear Stadium.
Will Jennings (Danvers, Mass.) registered a game-high five goals, while Mitchell Tapley (Falmouth, Maine) found the back of the net four times to lead the Gulls offensively. Thomas Harvey (Huntington, N.Y.) also added two goals and Matthew Faucher (Western Springs, Ill.) netted a solo tally in the fourth quarter (6:50, 13-11 deficit) to round out the scoring for Endicott.
With his five goals in today’s CCC Championship game, Jennings broke the program record for most goals in a single-season (80), which was previously held by Tom Maher (78 goals, 1998). Jennings’ 96 points (80 goals, 16 assists) this year also ranks tied for second in a single-season with Maher (78 goals, 18 assists, 1998).
WNEU received hat-tricks from Keegan Dudeck (Longmeadow, Mass.), Patrick Dillon (Baldwin, N.Y.), and Justin Bard (Westfield, Mass.), to go along with a pair of goals from Jared Ward (Littleton, Mass.) and Jon Bota (Mahopac, N.Y.) and a solo marker from Taylor Dubose (Altamon, N.Y.). Dudeck also assisted on five goals to give him a game-high 10 points on the day, while Ward chipped in with four helpers for a total of six points.
Trailing 6-5 in the third, Tapley tied up the contest for Endicott with a slick unassisted tally 2:12 into the quarter to bring the game even for the third time in the matchup. The Golden Bears responded with a 5-2 run over the remainder of the third, however, and quick goal in the fourth (14:05) to make it 12-8 (largest lead) before holding off a late rally by Endicott to secure their sixth CCC title in program history.
WNEU sophomore goalie Steven Kerr (Hopkinton, Mass.) stopped a game-high 14 shots in the win (14-3). Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) made six saves in the loss (9-9).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- WNEU holds an 11-8 advantage in the all-time series against Endicott.
- The Golden Bears and the Gulls have played each other in the CCC title game in four straight seasons, and five out of the last six (WNEU 3-2 overall).
- Today’s loss snaps Endicott’s five-game winning streak.
- Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.) went 17-for-30 at the face-off X (game-high 11 ground balls).
- Endicott went 16-for-17 in transition.
- Colin Bannon (Westport, Conn.) dished out one assist in today’s game to move up to No. 5 on the single-season points and assists lists, respectively (37 goals, 54 assists, 91 points).
- Senior Ben Katzen (Blauvelt, N.Y.) led all student-athletes with a game-high four caused turnovers.
FOR THE FOES
- WNEU improved its winning streak to 11 games today.
- The Golden Bears also bumped up their home record to 7-1.
- WNEU has not lost since March 29 when the Golden Bears fell to the two-time defending NCAA Division III national champion and the then No. 3 nationally ranked Tufts University Jumbos by a 15-12 score at home.
WHAT’S NEXT
WNEU (15-3) has earned the conference’s automatic berth into the 2016 NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse Tournament, and will await word of its seeding tomorrow night. Endicott sees its 2016 season come to a close at 9-9 overall.
BRISTOL, R.I. – The second-seeded Endicott women’s lacrosse team fell, 16-7, to top-seeded Roger Williams University Saturday afternoon at Bayside Field in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship game.
Battling their fifth all-time meeting in the conference championship to a 5-5 halftime deadlock, the Hawks won their first-ever CCC title thanks in part to an 11-0 run in the second half that proved to be too great a deficit for the Gulls to overcome.
Endicott struck first with a free-position goal from freshman midfielder Jackie Neilsen (Agawam, Mass.) at 21:56 and took a 3-2 lead on back-to-back goals from junior midfielder Emily Whitney (Rye, N.H.) at 14:25 on two feeds from freshman attack Jackie Healy (Northborough, Mass.), who put away the Gulls’ fourth goal at 7:18.
Whitney completed her hat trick by potting a goal with 1:47 remaining before halftime to knot the score at five apiece.
The Hawks scored 11 unanswered goals to begin the second half before Endicott received tallies from sophomore midfielder Olivia Larson (Cheshire, Conn.) and sophomore attack Erin McCarthy (Old Lyme, Conn.) to close out the game.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Hawks out-shot the Gulls, 37-11, including an 18-2 edge in the second half.
- Junior Maura Grady (Marblehead, Mass.) finished 6-10 on the season in goal as she made 13 saves in the defeat with a game-high five ground balls, before being replaced by freshman Bella Rino (Northborough, Mass.) who closed out the last 16:07 minutes in goal for the Gulls and recorded one save.
- Whitney continued her scoring streak as she notched a hat trick and one assist to lead the Gulls.
- Whitney has scored in 16 of the Gulls’ 18 games this season, including eight games with at least three goals.
- Healy scored one goal and had a team-high two assists.
- The Gulls are now 9-2 in CCC Championship games in program history.
FOR THE FOES
- Sophomore midfielder Carly Martin (Scituate, Mass.) recorded a game-high nine points on three goals and a game-high six assists.
- Junior midfielder McKenna Everding (Fayetteville, N.Y.) won a game-high seven draw controls as the Hawks’ registered 17 to the Gulls’ eight in the game. Everding also buried two goals.
- Sophomore midfielder Kaelin Hogan (Bethel, Conn.), senior midfielder Caitlin Murphy (Londonderry, N.H.), freshman midfielder Marin Owens (Brookline, N.H.) also each netted a hat trick.
- Freshman midfielder Emily Stoeppel (Brookfield, Conn.) tallied two goals and three assists with two ground balls, three draw controls and one caused turnover.
- Junior Kimberly Bolk (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) made two saves (all in the first half) as she improved to 15-3 on the season.
- Junior defender Caitlin Shanahan (Forest Hills, Md.) caused a game-high four turnovers.
NOTES
- The Gulls are 18-4 all-time and 6-3 on the road all-time at Roger Williams dating back to March 25, 2004.
- Roger Williams has won four straight meetings against the Gulls, including a 10-7 victory in Bristol, R.I., in the most recent meeting before today on April 23, 2016 in the regular season.
- The Gulls and Hawks have squared off nine times in the CCC postseason and Endicott stills holds a 7-2 edge as Roger Williams defeated Endicott for the first time in postseason play in the 2015 CCC Semifinals by a score of 15-6 on April 29, 2015.
WHAT’S NEXT
Endicott (8-10) sees its season come to an end, while Roger Williams (15-3) earned the conference’s automatic qualifier bid into the 2016 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament with the selection show on Sunday, May 8th at 9:30 p.m.
