PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Plymouth State University used a balanced offensive attack and senior
Owen McNichols (Manchester, N.H.) posted another ten save game as the Panthers stayed unbeaten with a 9-8 win over Rivier University in a non-conference men's lacrosse game at Panther Field on Wednesday night.
Senior
Crosby Fay (Waterville Valley, N.H.) and junior
Matt Miner (Chelmsford, Mass.) scored man-up goals 38 seconds apart early in the first quarter and Plymouth State would never trail.
Rivier cut the lead to one on several occasions, but each time the Panthers would answer back to maintain control. PSU used three straight tallies to push the lead to 6-2 at the half, but the Raiders clawed back to pull within 7-6 one minute into the fourth quarter.
Juniors
Ryan Jones (Tolland, Conn.) and
Shea Clark (Woburn, Mass.) came through with clutch goals as the Panthers pushed the advantage to 9-6 with less than nine minutes remaining. Rivier got one back with roughly five minutes to play, then cut the deficit to 9-8 with a goal with just five seconds remaining on the clock.
Freshman
Aiden Renner (Phillipsburg, N.J.) won the ensuing faceoff, though, snagging the ground ball to run out the clock and seal the Panthers' victory.
Plymouth State moves to 4-0 while the Raiders dip to 1-2.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 9, Rivier 8
- Plymouth State (4-0)
- Rivier (1-2)
How it Happened:
- Plymouth State made good on a pair of man-up chances in the first, as Fay and Miner each tallied goals for a quick 2-0 lead.
- Rivier came back with a score with 10:22 left in the first, but sophomore Brady Hunt (Billerica, Mass.) answered with his 10th goal of the year less than a minute later.
- The Raiders again cut the deficit to one, 3-2, with 3:30 on the clock, but graduate student Alex Hawkom (Manchester, N.H.) had the answer for PSU as the hosts carried a 4-2 lead into the second.
- The Panthers scored the only two goals of the second quarter with Fay notching his 10th of the year in the opening minute on a sharp pass from Miner, before Miner buried his second of the night two minutes later. The 6-2 margin was the largest of the game.
- The teams traded goals in the opening 1:12 of the third quarter, with Hawkom tallying his second of the evening for a 7-3 lead, but Rivier responded with three straight goals to make it a one-goal game, 7-6, with 14:00 left in regulation.
- Fay connected with Jones to restore the two-goal lead with 12:14 to play, and Clark added an unassisted tally just over three minutes later for a 9-6 advantage.
- Rivier pulled within 9-7 with 5:19 to play, before adding another in the final seconds to make things interesting.
- Renner controlled the faceoff, though, picking up the ground ball and running out the clock to seal the Panthers' fourth victory of the year.
By the Numbers:
- Miner finished with two goals and two assists for a team-high four points, while Fay added two goals and an assist.
- Hawkom also notched a two-goal game.
- Hunt finished with a goal and an assist to give PSU four players with multi-point games.
- Senior Jack Bonazzoli (Clinton, Mass.) led the Panthers with six ground balls, while Renner snagged five.
- Junior Joey Loeber (Chelmsford, Mass.) and senior Marc Hirshom (Walpole, Mass.) each chipped in four ground balls and three caused turnovers.
- McNichols made exactly ten saves in every game this season.
- Plymouth State held a slight 19-18 advantage in shots on goal, while each team committed 18 turnovers.
- Rivier finished 20-of-22 on clears, while the Panthers were 19-of-24.
- PSU controlled the ground balls by a 34-29 margin.
- The game was the first ever meeting between the two programs.
Up Next:
- The Panthers wrap up their three-game homestand on Saturday (Mar. 9) when Plattsburgh State comes to Panther Field for a noon contest.
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