BOSTON, Mass. - Freshman
attackman Andrew Eriksen (Beverly, Mass.) netted
three goals Saturday afternoon, including the game-winner, to lead
the Plymouth State University men's lacrosse team over host
University of Massachusetts Boston, 8-5, at the Clark Athletic
Center Field.
Plymouth State netted the last seven goals of the match, including
three in a span of 33 seconds in the opening minute of the second
half to knot the contest at 5-5, while holding UMass Boston
scoreless for the final 36:17 of play.
Sophomore midfielder Steven Engel (South Windsor,
Conn.) scored just 14 seconds into the third quarter to cut the
Panther deficit to 5-3, and sophomore middie Tim
Hadley (New London, N.H.) won the ensuing face-off and
went straight for the goal to score just 11 seconds later to pull
the visitors to within 5-4. Eriksen took advantage of the
Beacons being down two men and tied the match at 5-5 just 22
seconds later with his first goal of the afternoon. Eriksen
made the most of another extra-man opportunity when he found the
back of the net at 12:28 of the third quarter and scored again with
a man-advantage with 8:23 left in the contest to give Plymouth
State a 7-5 margin. Sophomore attackman Brian
Giroux (Wolfeboro Falls, NH) capped the scoring just 52
seconds later.
UMass Boston controlled the first half as sophomore Dale Nunn
(Hillsborough, N.J.) put the Beacons on the board early before
Giroux tied the score at 1-1 with three minutes left in the opening
quarter. Sophomore Johnny Ruiz (Longmeadow, Mass.) found the
back of the net to give UMass Boston a 2-1 edge after one period.
Junior middie Bobby Cusack (Braintree, Mass.) increased the UMB
lead to 3-1 with a man-down goal at 13:05 of the second quarter and
Ruiz struck for his second tally just 37 seconds later to make it
4-1 in favor of the home squad. Freshman attackman John Canty
(Milton, Mass.) ripped home the Beacons' fifth goal of the day with
6:17 to go in the first half to give them a commanding 5-1 lead,
before Plymouth State turned the tide. Senior Adam
Krinsky (Concord, N.H.) netted the lone goal for the
Panthers in the second quarter to make it 5-2 at the intermission.
Sophomore goalie Aaron Pollock (Belmont, Mass.) stopped 17 shots
for UMass Boston, while freshman Billy Morgan
(Winchester, Mass.) came up with 18 saves to earn the victory for
PSU.
Krinsky assisted on three goals to give him a game-high four points
on the day and added three ground balls for the Panthers.
Both teams are now 1-3 in conference play, PSU improving to 6-4
overall and UMB dropping to 2-7. Both teams also return to
action on Thursday, the Panthers visiting the University of
Southern Maine for an LEC match-up (4:00 p.m.) and the Beacons
hosting Wentworth Institute of Technology in a non-conference
encounter at 3:00 p.m.
(Courtesy of UMass Boston Sports Information)
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