Newton, Mass- Mike Maggio (Winchester, Mass.) sealed a 13-12 sudden death overtime victory for the Lasell College men's lacrosse team, shooting the incredible game-winning goal just 17 seconds into the extra period. Maggio scored four total goals in the contest with Clark University, including game-tying tally with 1:18 left in the final quarter to force overtime. With the victory, Lasell finishes the 2009 season with a 5-10 slate, and a 3-4 record in the Pilgrim League.
The contest featured six lead changes and six ties during a physical battle between the Lasers and the Cougars. Clark started the contest with a 1-0 lead after Nick Voigt (West Hartford, Conn.) shot from fifteen yards out off a pass from Hakeem Hindi (Houston, TX).
Laser senior Dave Bulhoes (Billerica, Mass.) evened things out with a wide open goal as Maggio sent a cross crease pass to Buhloes for the assist.
However, the Cougars kept the pressure on as Matt Fields (Oceanside, NY) assisted Eugene Arsenault (South Portland, ME) twice to go ahead, then scored another goals of his own, as Clark took a 4-1 lead by 7:54 in the first.
Ryan Koerner (Floral Park, NY) scored man-up for Lasell with Brandon Keith (Marston Mills, Mass.) finding him from behind the cage to give Lasell their second score of the day. However, Clark pushed further ahead as Chris Johnson (Amherst, Mass.) made a dodge around Lasell's defense to fire in a distance shot.
In the next play, Lasell's Anthony Erz (Hampton, NJ) answered back after winning the ensuing face-off and taking the ball down field to score from 12 yards out with a side arm goal past Cougars goalkeeper Tyler Campbell (Portland, OR).
Arsenault scored his third mark at 1:27 in the first, giving Clark a 6-3 advantage, but Maggio then made his way around the net to turn and shoot unassisted closing the gap to just a two goal deficit in the first quarter.
Maggio scored on another penalty early in the second for his 25th season goal. Koerner cut behind his defender and rolled in the game-tying goal as Brian Yepez (Hillsborough, NJ) assisted with a perfect pass in front of the goal, at 9:40 in the second.
Lasell went ahead for the first time with a Chris Bulkey (Groton, Conn.) goal at 7:59, but Clark leveled the score once again when Fields found Arsenault in position to score. Lasell's power play gave them the edge once again as Bulkley cut through the middle and struck again.
Keith picked up a ground ball in a scramble to turn-and-shoot as the Lasers went up 9-7 and then, with just 29 seconds to play in the half, Patrick Bresnahan (Manchester, NH) gave Lasell a 10-7 cushion entering the break.
Clark scored two man-up goals to open the half, and then tied everything up at 10-all as the Cougars tallied their third goal in just over two minutes into the second half. The deadlock didn't last long though as Yepez made his way through traffic to score unassisted, breaking the fourth tie of the game.
With one second left in a Lasell penalty, Voigt scored for Clark again, good for the 5th tie of the contest at eleven-all, as the third quarter ended in a stalemate.
The final regulation period was a battle of the goalkeepers, as both Kelliher and Campbell held opposite teams scoreless for 13:05, making five and four saves respectively.
The game remained in an impasse until with 1:55 remaining, Phil Winslow (N. Providence, RI) faced a one-on-one with Kelliher and shot to the high corner as Clark stole the lead.
With less than two minutes remaining, it seemed that Clark might have snuck away with a win on the Lasers senior day. However, senior Maggio made his last game a memorable one as he successfully attacked Clarks cage and forced overtime with the Lasers 12th goal of the contest.
Two saves by Kelliher with 18 and 4 seconds remaining in regulation secure's Lasell chance to take the victory in extra frames.
Six seconds into the overtime, Maggio picked up a groundball and just nine seconds later the game was over as he shot the game winner to guarantee a victory in his final game.
All of Lasell's seniors, who were honored prior to the start of
the game, contributed in their final contest as Lasers.
Matthew Stambler (Bay Shore, NY) picked up four
ground balls and caused two turnovers leading the Lasers defense,
while Terry Soloski (Billerica, Mass.) added two
groundballs and won three face-offs. Koerner and Bulhoes
totaled three goals between them and Maggio's five points led for
the Lasers.
On the Cougars side, Arsenault contributed a game-best six points on five goals and one assist, though not far behind was Voight with four goals and one assist. Tim Roche (Centerpoint, NY) also picked up 12 groundballs and caused three turnovers.
Kelliher takes the win with 11 saves made in net for Lasell, while Campbell picked up 14 saves in the Cougars net in the defeat.