NEWTON, Mass. – Senior Andrew Fidalgo (Wilbraham, Mass.) scored a game-high five goals Saturday afternoon to lead the Lasell University men's lacrosse team to its first victory of the season, a 13-9 verdict over Nichols College in non-conference action at Grellier Field.
Lasell evens its record at 1-1 this spring, while Nichols dropped its season opener to fall to 0-1.
The Lasers also got two goals and two assists apiece from graduate student Chase Kapuscienski (Grafton, Mass.) and junior Jordan Hines (Essex Junction, Vt.), and junior Bash Cunningham (Norwalk, Conn.) added two goals and a team-high five ground balls.
Junior Cian Keohane (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) topped the Bison with three goals, while classmate Hunter Ferreira (Mansfield, Mass.) piled up four points on two goals and two assists along with five ground balls.
Cunningham scored a pair of goals in the first quarter to push Lasell to a 4-2 lead after the first 15 minutes. Nichols had a 3-2 advantage in the second frame but a pair of strikes by Fidalgo gave the Lasers a 6-5 lead at the half.
After trading goals early on in the third quarter, Lasell scored four out of five in a 10-minute stretch to open up a 12-8 advantage. Hines tallied a man-up goal, Kapuscienski contributed a goal and an assist, and Fidalgo capped the rally with a pair of goals set up by senior Colby Buccheri (Rowley, Mass.). Each team scored one goal in the final frame for the 13-8 final.
Lasell had a slight 48-44 margin in shots while Nichols had a narrow advantage in ground balls, 36-35. The Bison dominated the face-off X, with graduate student Pat Nally (Franklin, Mass.) and juniors Scott Ehrenberg (Franklin, Mass.) and Ethan Hopey (Mount Vernon, N.H.) combining to win 18 out of 25.
Junior goalie Alex Beauchemin (Westfield, Mass.) earned the victory for Lasell after making 16 saves on 25 shots. Senior Griffin Jasin (St. Charles, Mo.) finished with nine saves for the visitors.
Lasell is back in action next Saturday, March 27, with a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) match-up at Anna Maria College (11 a.m.). Nichols also plays again next Saturday, visiting Roger Williams University (12:00 p.m.)
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