Leopard Comeback Falls Short Against New England College

BOSTON, Mass. – Junior John Gabriel (West Nyack, N.Y.), sophomore Chris Harris (Baltimore, Md.), and sophomore Phil DiFlaco (Scarsdale, N.Y.) each scored two goals while freshman Brian Gillis (North Vancouver, B.C.) tallied a goal and an assist as the New England College men's lacrosse team held off Wentworth Institute of Technology, 10-8, in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference contest on Sweeney Field.

Wentworth broke the ice 1:56 into the contest when freshman Mike Sharpe scored and took a 2-0 lead with 2:14 left in the quarter on a goal from sophomore Caleb Daigneault (Lewiston, Maine).

The second quarter would be all New England College as the Pilgrims outscored the Leopards, 5-1.  Senior Matt Vozzolo (Somers, Conn.) scored 1:27 into the period to pull within 2-1 before freshman Lucas Flaig (Pasadena, Md.) tied the game with 5:52 remaining.  Harris' first marker of the game was a shorthanded goal with 4:19 remaining before Wentworth junior Matt Cox (Granger, Ind.) evened the score with a goal with just under 3:00 remaining.  The Pilgrims got goals from Gillis and Gabriel within 56 seconds of each other to take a 5-3 lead at the break.

DiFlaco, Harris, and Gabriel scored goals in a span of 2:41 to put New England College ahead 8-3 before Sharpe cut the lead to 8-4 with 2:43 left in the third quarter.  Sharpe would open the fourth-quarter scoring on a man-up goal just 35 seconds into the final stanza, but junior Matt Carey (Medford, N.Y.) and DiFlaco made it a 10-5 game with 7:11 left.

Wentworth began its comeback 37 seconds later on a goal from sophomore Justin Connors (Richboro, Pa.) and scored a man-up goal with 3:12 left off the crosse of freshman Connor Swanson (Holden, Mass.).  With 32 seconds left, Cox scored to pull within a pair, but time would run out on the Leopards.

While shots were even at 33, Wentworth held a 47-42 ground ball advantage and New England College won 13 of 19 faceoffs.  Senior Nick Fischer (South Burlington, Vt.) made 12 saves to pick up the win.  Senior Sean Tobin (Silver Spring, Md.) made nine saves in 52:49 of work, while freshman Jared Proulx (Nashua, N.H.) made two saves in the game's final 7:11.

Winners of five of their last six, the Pilgrims improve to 8-7 overall and 6-3 in league play.  New England College closes out the regular season at Salve Regina on Saturday.  Wentworth dropped its fifth straight to stand at 4-9 overall (2-8 TCCC).  The Leopards host Regis to close out the regular season Saturday night.