NEWTON, Mass. – Freshman James Anderson (Medway, Mass.) scored his second goal of the game 80 seconds into overtime Tuesday afternoon to lift Lasell College to a dramatic 9-8 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology in non-conference men's lacrosse action at Grellier Field.
The game-winner snuffed out a furious Wentworth comeback in the fourth quarter, as the Leopards rallied from a four-goal deficit to tie the game at 7-7 with three minutes to play in regulation, and tied it up again at 8-8 with 1:30 remaining.
Lasell put the ball in the back of the Wentworth net as regulation time wound down but time had expired, forcing overtime. The Lasers won the overtime face-off and Anderson scored the game-winner on Lasell's second shot of the extra session.
The Lasers won their fourth straight game to improve to 5-1 overall, while Wentworth lost its sixth in a row and dropped to 2-6.
After a scoreless first quarter, Lasell led just 2-0 at halftime after goals by sophomore Andrew Fidalgo (Wilbraham, Mass.) and freshman Jordan Hines (Essex Jct., Vt.) in the middle of the second frame. The Lasers pushed their lead to 5-0 to start the third quarter on goals by Fidalgo, Anderson and senior Mike Susi (Gorham, Maine), and held a 6-2 advantage after three. The teams traded goals to start the fourth quarter before Wentworth rallied from behind.
Freshman Alex Beauchemin (Westfield, Mass.) was strong in the Laser goal, improving his record to 5-1 with an 11-save effort. Sophomore Randy Ryan (Clinton, N.J.) made eight saves in the Wentworth goal.
Anderson, Fidalgo, Hines and Susi all finished with two goals for the Lasers, and freshman Bash Cunningham (Norwalk, Conn.) scored once. Senior David Sheehan (Tewksbury, Mass.) led the defense with five ground balls and freshmen Tyler Rose (Springfield, Mass.) and Steven Phelps (Stamford, Conn.) picked up four each.
Senior Jason Buck (Manlius, N.Y.) paced the Leopards with two goals, while sophomore Andrew DiPalma (West Orange, N.J.) tallied a goal and two assists. Sophomore Danny Bartosiewicz (North Grafton, Mass.) picked up a game-high six ground balls.
The Lasers return to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Saturday, March 23, with a home game against Albertus Magnus College in a noon face-off. Wentworth returns home to host Emmanuel College on Thursday, March 21, at 7 p.m.
-- 30 --