Newton, Mass.- The Lasers powered past Plymouth State University in men's lacrosse action on Grellier Field Tuesday afternoon in a 14-7 victory over the Panthers. The Lasers never trailed in the contest, going up 6-0 at the half, and improving their overall record to 2-5, while the Panthers fall to 0-3.
Lasell's Brandon Keith (Marston Mills, Mass.) scored twice while the Lasers were man-up on a Plymouth penalty, first at 9:51 and then again just 50 seconds later in the first quarter. Both of Keith's goals were assisted by Mike Maggio (Winchester, Mass.).
In the second stanza, the Lasers pushed even further ahead with seven Lasell athletes tallying points. Dave Buhloes (Billerica, Mass.) started things off receiving a pass from Matt Stambler (Bay Shore, NY) to score past Panther goaltender Billy Morgan (Winchester, Mass.). Brian Yepez (Hillsborough, NJ) and Ryan Koerner (Floral Park, NY) each connected off assists by Maggio, and Patrick Bresnahan (Manchester, NH) was the final Laser to score before the half, taking a pass from Sean Speciale (Hillsborough, NJ) to close the half ahead 6-0.
Lasell's goalie Mike Kelliher (Weymouth, Mass.) faced 8 panther shots in the first half, making four saves, while Morgan faced 19 Laser attempts and made 3 saves.
Lasell pushed further ahead in the third frame with Daniel Wilson (Mahopac, NY) scoring unassisted just two minutes in, followed by a third netted shot by Keith. PSU's first goal came at 9:40 in the period when Matt Johansmeyer (Shelburne Falls, Mass.) came in unassisted to get one past Kelliher. Brian Giroux (Wolfeboro Falls, NH) follow suite for the Panthers to make the game 8-2.
Maggio broke up the Panther scoring with his first goal, which proved to be the last for the Lasers for nearly thirteen minutes, proving to be the longest lapse in scoring for Lasell. Maggio broke through with two more goals in a two minute span to up the lead 11-5. Bresnaham, Yepez, and Keith each recorded another mark a piece, along with Johansmeyer and Adam Rothbart (Portland, ME) for the Panthers to end the game 14-7.
Both Johansmeyer and Rothbart finished with 2 points for the Panthers, and Morgan ended the day with 7 saves in net. Steve Engel (South Windsor, Conn.) picked up five ground balls and controlled 7 of 13 face-offs in Plymouths favor.
Lasell out-shot the Panthers 37-27 and also controlled 39 groundballs, as opposed to Plymouth's 30. The Lasers also edged out PSU in face-offs, controlling 12 of the 22 total.
Kelliher took the win, making 10 saves in net for the home team. Maggio tallied a game-high seven points on three goals and four assists, also grabbing 2 ground balls and causing one turnover. Stambler added 3 groundballs and made 2 caused turnovers, while Matthew Gagne (Longmeadow, Mass.) caused an addition two turnovers, picking up 4 groundballs.
On Saturday, March 28th, the Lasers begin Pilgrim League play facing the Engineers of MIT. Face-off is at 11:00 a.m.