PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Sophomore
Crosby Fay (Waterville Valley, N.H.) poured in seven goals and added an assist as Plymouth State University recorded its 21st straight win over Salem State University, outscoring the Vikings by a 24-8 margin in Little East Conference (LEC) men's lacrosse action at Panther Field on Tuesday night.
Plymouth State held a narrow 6-4 lead late in the first quarter before Fay scored his third of the game to end the frame with a three-goal advantage. PSU ran off the first three goals of the second and, after Salem State momentarily paused the momentum, ripped off 11 straight to put the game out of reach.
PSU has won every contest over the Vikings since the teams first met during the 1997 season. The 24 goals scored by the Panthers match a season high.
Plymouth State improves to 4-8 and picks up its first conference win (1-3), while Salem State drops to 5-6 and 0-4 in the Little East.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 24, Salem State 8
- Plymouth State (4-8, 1-3 LEC)
- Salem State (5-6, 0-4 LEC)
Top Performers:
How it Happened:
- The Vikings got on the board first after 1:24 of play, but senior Riley Roy (Laconia, N.H.) notched the equalizer just 28 seconds later.
- Salem State went up again at the 12:04 mark before Fay tallied his first of the day ahead of back-to-back goals by freshman Matt Miner (Chelmsford, Mass.).
- The teams traded goals with Fay capping the first quarter with his third of the night for a 7-4 lead after one.
- Junior Mike Fleury (Lebanon, N.H.) scored twice around Fay's 30th goal of the year as PSU went up 10-4 midway through the second.
- Salem State briefly cut the deficit to five, but the Panthers closed the half with three consecutive scores to push the lead to 13-5 at the half.
- Plymouth State put the game away in the third quarter, pouring in another seven goals while holding the Vikings scoreless in the frame to lead 20-5 heading into the final 15 minutes.
- Miner found the back of the cage for the fifth time and freshman Joe O'Reilly (Hollis, N.H.), sophomore Liam Brown (Center Harbor, N.H.) and senior Cam O'Shaughnessy (Milford, N.H.) each added tallies to account for the final score.
By the Numbers:
- Nine different players had multi-point games for the Panthers, led by Fay's eight-point game.
- Miner totaled five goals and an assist, with Roy contributing four markers and an assist.
- Junior Nick Drew (Chelmsford, Mass.) dished out a team-high four assists. He leads the Panthers with 19 helpers on the year.
- Freshman Leaf Charbonneau (North Grafton, Mass.) won 15-of-20 faceoffs and added a team-best six ground balls, while sophomore Seth Marcotte (Plaistow, N.H.) went 11-5 on faceoffs.
- Sophomore Nolan Burke (Worcester, Mass.) grabbed five ground balls and added two caused turnovers.
- Sophomore Jessy Hirwa (Penacook, N.H.) made five saves in the first half to improve to 2-0. Classmate Owen McNichols (Manchester, N.H.) and junior Ian Gibbons (Billerica, Mass.) combined for five stops in the second half.
Up Next:
- PSU is home again on Saturday (Apr. 16) when the Panthers host Massachusetts Maritime Academy at 4:00 p.m.
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