Luongo scores twice for Panthers in setback

            CASTLETON, Vt. – Junior Paul Luongo (Northborough, Mass.) scored a pair of goals but the Plymouth State University men's lacrosse team was nipped by Castleton University, 8-6, in a non-conference game at Spartan Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

            Plymouth State drops to 4-5 with the loss, while the Spartans move to 6-5 following an 0-4 start.

            Castleton took a 1-0 lead just over two minutes into play when senior Ryan Stone (Laconia, N.H.) found the back of the cage. Sophomore Griffin Jacobson (Windham, Maine) answered for PSU a minute-and-a-half later with his 12th goal of the year and the Panthers took their only lead of the game with 5:29 remaining in the first quarter when classmate Thomas Kelly (Chantilly, Va.) took a feed from senior Justin Roos (Coram, N.Y.) and fired it past Castleton goalie Brandon Myron (Rensselaer, N.Y.).

            The Spartans evened the game with 3:23 left in the quarter on a goal from senior Kevin McCarthy (Sayville, N.Y.).

            The home team pulled ahead with the first two goals of the second quarter, the first coming in a man-up situation, but Luongo answered with his first of the day to cut the deficit to 4-3 as the teams went into the halftime break.

            Freshman Connor Delea (Manchester, N.H.) knotted the score at four-apiece midway through the third quarter, but sophomore Tyler Crowningshield (Vergennes, Vt.) recorded a pair of unassisted goals as Castleton took a 6-4 advantage.

            The Spartans pushed the lead to 7-4 with a goal in the first minute of the fourth quarter, but Jacobson connected with junior Chris Waterbury (Clinton, Conn.) to pull the Panthers to within 7-5. Crowningshield completed the hat trick to put the home team up 8-5 with nine minutes to play. Luongo's second goal cut the margin to 8-6, but that was as close as Plymouth would get.

            Junior Zel Kerkel (Loudon, N.H.) made ten saves to keep the Panthers in the game, as Castleton outshot PSU 34-26. With the loss he dropped to 4-5. Jacobson finished with a goal and an assist and has recorded a point in every game this season, including a goal in four straight. Kelly added a helper to his goal to record a two-point game and Roos had a pair of assists.

            Sophomore Charlie Harrington (Walpole, Mass.) led the Panthers with six ground balls, many coming off face offs as senior Kyle Stockman (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) won 10-of-17 for PSU.

            Myron made nine saves to improve to 6-5.

            The Panthers will stay in New Hampshire for their next game, traveling to New England College on Tuesday (Apr. 10) for a 7:00 p.m. tilt.

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