St. George sparks Panthers to conference road victory

            DANBURY, Conn. – Plymouth State University scored the first five goals of the game from five different players Saturday afternoon and held on for an 8-7 victory over Western Connecticut State University in the Little East Conference men's lacrosse opener for both teams at the Westside Athletic Complex.

            PSU led 5-0 early in the second period before the Colonials fought back to make it 5-2 by halftime. Western pulled to within two goals (7-5) by the end of the third quarter and outscored the Panthers 2-1 in the final frame but PSU held on for the win.

            Western had a 52-33 advantage in shots but PSU senior goalie Chris St. George (Marblehead, Mass.) was outstanding, making 16 saves. The Panthers improve to 5-1 overall while Western remains winless in eight tries.

            Leading the offense for Plymouth State were senior Aaron Boss (Keene, N.H.) with two goals and an assist and junior Phil Pichel (Hopkinton, Mass.) with two goals. Sophomore Alex Croatti (Brunswick, Maine) added a goal and an assist and senior Mike Trocchi (Danvers, Mass.) collected two assists.

            Scoring for Western were junior Nate Wilson (Norwich, Conn.) with three goals, junior Jesse Beatty (Redding, Conn.) with two goals, and sophomore Patrick Mulligan (Stratford, Conn.) with two goals.

            Sophomore Nicco Sorrentino (Chelmsford, Mass.), senior Nick Morello (North Billerica, Mass.) and Boss scored for PSU in the first five minutes of the game for an early 3-0 lead. Croatti scored five minutes later to make it 4-0 after one quarter.

            A man-up goal by Pichel in the first minute of the second period gave Plymouth State a 5-0 lead, but Western answered 10 seconds later when Mulligan scored an unassisted goal to get the Colonials on the board. Western narrowed the margin to 5-2 on an unassisted goal by Beatty at the 6:35 mark of the period, and that score stood going into the locker room at intermission.

            Western opened the scoring in the second half on a goal by Wilson to make the score 5-3, but PSU scored goals two minutes apart to pull ahead, 7-3. Mulligan and Beatty answered for Western 30 seconds apart with close to three minutes remaining in the period to make the score 7-5 going into the fourth.

            After Boss scored his second unassisted goal for the Panthers three minutes into the fourth quarter, Western shut out Plymouth State for the remainder of the game. The Colonials trimmed the margin to two goals with 10 minutes remaining, and a man-up goal by Wilson with three and a half remaining pulled Western to within one goal, 8-7. Western controlled the ball in the Plymouth State end of the field for the final three minutes of the game, but failed to find the net in spite of multiple shooting opportunities, giving the visitors an 8-7 victory.

            PSU is back in action Wednesday, Apr. 1, at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. The Colonials return to action on Tuesday, Mar. 31, when they travel to the Merchant Marine Academy. 

(With contributions from Western Connecticut Sports Information)

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