(Box Score)

            HENNIKER, N.H. - Sophomore Matt Carey (Medford, N.Y.) scored five goals Thursday afternoon to lead the New England College Pilgrims past the visiting Plymouth State University, 10-1, in non-conference men's lacrosse action.

            The Pilgrims snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 6-6 overall, while PSU dropped its second straight and fell to 4-6 on the season.

            The two teams battled evenly through the opening minutes before Carey got the Pilgrims on the board, scoring two goals within 25 seconds of each other.  PSU got on the board late in the opening quarter as freshman Andrew Hettinger (Lagrangeville, N.Y.) scored his first goal of the season.  Carey would strike just seconds later with his third goal of the game as the Pilgrims closed the opening quarter up 3-1.

            NEC continued to control much of the offense in the second quarter, out-shooting the visitors 11-6 and heading into halftime up 6-1.

            The Pilgrims defense was huge in the second half as the Panthers out-shot NEC 18-12 but came up empty.  Sophomore keeper Nick Aquaviva (Syracuse, N.Y.) made 10 second-half saves to keep PSU off the board and record the victory. NEC tacked on three goals in the third quarter and a goal late in the fourth for the 10-1 final.

            Sophomore Jon Gabriel (W. Nyack, N.Y.) scored four goals for the Pilgrims and junior Clint McDonough (Mtn. Lakes, N.J.) dished out three assists.

            Sophomore Kevin Hayes (Beverly, Mass.) finished with 14 saves in the Panther goal.

            PSU plays a key Little East Conference game Saturday at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (1:00 p.m.), while NEC hosts Wentworth next Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. 

(Courtesy of New England College Sports Information) 

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