No. 6 Endicott holds off late Duck rally
March 18, 2009
HOBOKEN, N.J. - The Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team scored the game's final five goals, but it was not enough as the Ducks fell to No. 6 Endicott College, 11-9 on Wednesday night at the De Baun Athletic Complex in Hoboken, N.J. A dominant third quarter by the Gulls (5-0) extended a two-goal halftime lead to six, and the Ducks could never recover. Stevens (3-3) was led by three tallies from senior midfielder Alex Heckman, and two goals and an assist from seniors Matt Keating and J.R. Oreskovich. The Gulls were keyed by four goals from senior Nick Cosco (Londenderry, N.H.) and two scores and four assists from senior Brandon Dube (Danvers, Mass.).
Dube scored 47 seconds into the fourth quarter to give Endicott its largest lead of the contest at 11-4, and it looked like the Gulls had taken all the life out of the Ducks. From that point on however, it was all Stevens as Keating started the rally with unassisted goal with 12:16 left. Sophomore midfielder Chris Laurita brought the Ducks to within five 47 ticks later, and Keating then put away a nice feed from Oreskovich with 9:48 left.
Heckman and senior Eric Smith hooked up with 5:45 to go to make the score 11-8, and Heckman fired home a laser to pull the Ducks within two with 2:04 showing on the clock.
Face-offs were a huge reason why the Gulls came out on top. They won 19-of-24 on the night and won several key ones late to secure the win.
The first half featured a great deal of possession lacrosse as the two teams combined for just six goals, all coming in the first quarter. The Ducks took an early 2-1 lead but Endicott scored three-straight times in a span of 3:13 to take a 4-2 lead with 1:11 remaining in the first. Dube had the equalizer in the sequence and Cosco buried the goal that put the Gulls up for good.
The third quarter spelled doom for Stevens. The Ducks were outscored 6-2 in the stanza and after Smith brought his team within one, Endicott ripped off three goals in a row, two by Cosco, to take control.
Endicott had a 25-24 edge in shots taken and picked up 37 ground balls compared to 24 for Stevens. The Ducks won the turnover battle, forcing Endicott into 16 giveaways compared to Stevens' 12. However, the huge advantage in face-offs and time of possession were big for Endicott.
Sophomore Dave Decker took the loss in goal for Stevens. He made eight saves and secured four ground balls. Eric Hagarty (Sudbury, Mass.) only made four saves, but the junior played very well in goal to earn his fifth win of the season.
In addition to his one goal and one assist, Laurita had four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Sophomore Jake Messimer was solid for Stevens, causing two turnovers and picking up two ground balls. Sophomore defender Ted Pfeifer had three ground balls the Ducks.
Stevens will return to action at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday evening when it hosts Utica College in its first Empire 8 contest of the season. The Gulls also return to action on Saturday as they open The Commonwealth Coast Conference play against New England College in a 3:00 p.m. tilt.