Endicott advances into TCCC Semifinals with 17-5 win over UNE

Boxscore

Beverly, Mass. – The \#2 seed Endicott men’s lacrosse defeated \#7 seed University of New England 17-5 on Saturday, earning a spot in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) semifinals for the eleventh straight season.

The Gulls (13-4) were led by junior short-stick specialist Sam Ozycz (Cheshire, Conn.) who along with controlling 16-of-21 face offs and grabbing 13 ground balls, scored two goals and assisted on another. Ozycz’s was one of six Endicott players to score two goals in the game. 

The Nor’easters (8-10) had five different goal scorers in the game with sophomore attacker Tyler Thomas (Mount Pleasant, N.Y.) adding an assist and three ground balls. 

Defensively, Endicott’s senior defensemen Robert Crossett (Katonah, N.Y.), Andrew Pochebit (Portland, Maine) and Kevin Downes (Cheshire, Conn.) combined to cause eight turnovers. Gulls goalie Mike Klein (Darien, Conn.) improved to 11-3 on the season after making eight saves in three quarters of play. 

UNE defender Nick Peter (Queenstown, Md.) had two caused turnovers while goalie Jay Letendre (Southington, Conn.) made 14 saves in the cage in a losing effort.

UNE opened the scoring early in the first quarter at 11:31 on a man-up opportunity as Nor’easters senior Luke DiFiore (Gloucester, Mass.) beat the keeper to the put the visitors up 1-0. Thomas assisted on the play.

The score remained 1-0 for the next six and a half minutes until Endicott senior midfielder Chris Cotter (Lordship, Conn.) scored the Gulls’ first goal with an assist to Jack Curtis (Chelmsford, Mass.). The Blue and Green took a 2-1 lead just seven seconds later as Ozycz won the face off, raced into the Nor’easters defensive end and scored an unassisted tally. 

The final goal of the opening quarter was an equalizer by UNE senior midfielder Nick Wilson (Amherst, N.H.) with 1:27 on the clock. 

With the scoreboard tied 2-2, Endicott put up six straight goals to take a commanding 8-2 lead. Sophomore Brian Estes (Derry, N.H.) netted two of those goals with Chris Gugino (West Hartford, Conn.), Kyle Jordan (Falmouth, Maine), Jon Thanas (Cumberland, R.I.), and Connor McCormack (Norwalk, Conn.) each adding a goal. UNE would not go without scoring in the second quarter as senior midfielder Billy Davis (North Kingstown, R.I.) found the back of the net with just 27 seconds remaining until halftime to make it 8-3. 

Endicott outscored UNE 4-1 in the third quarter with two of those goals coming on man-up opportunities. McCormack got his second tally of the day on a man-up chance, collecting a pass from Curtis before firing a shot past the UNE goalie. Junior Harry Holden (Duxbury, Mass.) scored the first of his two goals with the man advantage with an assist to junior midfielder Connor Prescott (Norwalk, Conn.). Senior defender Kevin Downes (Cheshire, Conn.) tallied his first assist of the season after sending a pass to junior attacker Brian Vincent (Norwalk, Conn.) who put in his only goal of the game.

UNE’s Michael Pennacchio (Peabody, Mass.) scored the Nor’easters’ only goal of the third quarter, unassisted, at the 4:55 mark. 

The final quarter saw Endicott’s Anthony Martignetti (Winchester, Mass.) and Justin Sproul (Londonderry, N.H.) scored their first goals of the game while Ozycz, Cotter, and Holden added their second goals of the quarterfinal. Dave Linquata (Gloucester, Mass.) and Peter Erickson (Yarmouth, Maine) recorded assists in the quarter for the Gulls. UNE’s Thomas scored his lone goal of the game on a man-up opportunity with an assist to senior Michael Woods (Kittery Point, Maine).  

Endicott will now await the results from the other TCCC Quarterfinal games going on this afternoon. The Gulls are anticipated the play the winner of the \#6 seed Salve Regina at \#3 seed Gordon game.