BOSTON, Mass. – Junior Steve Glover (Marstons Mills, Mass.) scored six goals and added an assist and sophomore Ryan Coakley (Flemington, N.J.) scored a goal and dished out six assists as the Wentworth Institute of Technology defeated Mitchell, 13-3, in the semifinals of the 2013 ECAC Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament.
With the win the Leopards (11-6), who snapped a four-game losing streak, picked up their first-ever win in an ECAC Tournament contest and advance to Saturday's championship contest at top-seeded University of New England at 1:00 p.m.
The Leopards scored the first four goals of the game and never looked back as junior Chris Kipp (Scarborough, Maine) got things started 1:34 into the contest. Glover added a pair of goals late in the quarter, scoring with 2:30 left and with 23 seconds left to give the hosts a 3-0 lead after one quarter. Sophomore Dillon Lynch (Southwick, Mass.) had two assists in the quarter.
Freshman Nick Parent (Windham, N.H.) scored 44 seconds into the second quarter to give Wentworth a 4-0 lead before the Mariners broke the ice with a goal from junior Shane Sullivan (Quaker Hill, Conn.). The Leopards scored the next five goals of the half as Glover, Coakley, Parent, Lynch, and Kipp all found the back of the net, increasing the lead to 9-1 at the break.
Wentworth's run continued in the third quarter with Glover scoring three times to push the lead to 12-1 before Sullivan scored with 3:33 left to make it a 12-2 game.
Junior Chris Joy (East Lyme, Conn.) scored for Mitchell 20 seconds into the fourth quarter before Lynch closed out the scoring with a goal two minutes later.
Lynch finished with two goals and two assists, while Kipp and Parent had two goals apiece in the win. Freshman Tim Parlato (Needham, Mass.) won seven face-offs, collected 11 ground balls, and caused three turnovers. Junior Jared Proulx (Nashua, N.H.) made four saves in 45 minutes of work before giving way to classmate Jeff Bathalon (Maynard, Mass.), who made two saves in the fourth quarter.
Sullivan had a pair of goals for the Mariners while junior Demetre Lyras (Rocky Point, N.Y.) had two assists and won 12 of 15 at the X. He also picked up five ground balls. Freshman Maxx Crowley (Seal Beach, Calif.) picked up nine ground balls and junior Peter Eshenfelder (Quaker Hill, Conn.) made 18 saves, caused three turnovers, and picked up five ground balls.
The Leopards held a 46-22 shot advantage and a 48-43 ground ball advantage. Wentworth was successful on 27 of 29 clear attempts for the contest.
