UNE hands Endicott first CCC loss of the season

BIDDEFORD, Maine – The Endicott men's lacrosse team saw their seven-game winning-streak, as well as their undefeated start in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play, come to an end as the University of New England (UNE) Nor'easters handed the Gulls a 10-9 defeat on Tuesday evening on the Big Blue Turf.

Endicott (10-4, 5-1 CCC) trailed by two goals with 5:02 remaining in regulation, but rallied to tie the game at 9-9 with back-to-back goals by sophomore Scott McCormack (Norwalk, Conn.), unassisted, and senior Connor McCormack (Norwalk, Conn.), from sophomore Kyle Weber (West Hartford, Conn.).  Connor McCormack's goal came with just 1:27 remaining in the fourth quarter but the Nor'easters responded just 14 seconds later, as UNE took the face-off and junior midfielder Dan O'Gorman (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) scored his only goal of the game to deliver the game-winner.

The Gulls will look to rebound with a pair of games this weekend, one on the road at NESCAC rival Bowdoin on Saturday and the other at home on Sunday against CCC opponent Nichols.  

UNE (10-4, 4-2 CCC) beat Endicott for the first time since the 1996 season when the Nor'easters edged the Gulls 8-7 at home.  The Nor'easters next host Salve Regina on Saturday.

The Blue and Green got four points from Weber on three goals and an assist as he raised his team-leading goal total up to 29 tallies.  Weber was a major factor in the first half, scoring all three of his goals to help Endicott take a 5-4 lead at halftime.

Endicott also saw Connor McCormack score his fourth hat trick in the past six games.  The senior netted a goal midway through the second quarter to tie the game at three, his second on a man-up opportunity to pull Endicott to within one at 7-6, and his third came with just 87 seconds remaining to knot the score at 9-9. 

Despite Endicott's efforts, UNE got a stellar game out of junior midfielder Nick Gross (Kennebunk, Maine) who scored four times to lead all players.  Pat Wolfe (Phippsburg, Maine) and Geoff Bruno (Durham, Conn.) both added two goals for UNE.

In net, Nor'easters first year goalie John Dusel (Wilbraham, Mass.) made 15 saves in earning the victory while Gulls freshman Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) made seven saves in the cage. 

On the face-off, Endicott specialist Sam Ozycz (Cheshire, Conn.) was once again impressive by winning 20-of-23 attempts with 15 groundballs.

For the game, Endicott won took a 50-30 groundball advantage and held the Nor'easters to just 1-of-8 on man-up advantages.  The Gulls had 23 turnovers to just 16 for UNE.