Wentworth Evens Record at 1-1

(Courtesy of Mass. Maritime Sports Information)

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. --  Freshman Greg Ordway's (Freeport, Maine) goal as time expired capped a two-goal comeback in the final 6:13 of action and lifted Wentworth to an 11-10 non-league college men's lacrosse victory over Massachusetts Maritime Wednesday evening at Clean Harbors Stadium.

Ordway's first collegiate marker proved to be the difference in the triumph for the visiting Leopards (1-1), as it hit the back of the net as the horn sounded.  Fellow freshman Mark Pappas (Worcester, Mass.) had evened matters with his sixth goal of the contest that came with 3:28 to play, as Wentworth was able to turn away a pair of shots and gain possession over the final 30 seconds of action to set up Ordway's heroics.

The Leopards jumped out to a 2-0 first quarter lead on tallies by Pappas and junior Matt Cox (Granger, Ind.), but the host Buccaneers (0-1) rallied to take a 3-2 edge early in the second stanza of their season opener on a pair of goals by senior Brian Burke (Del Mar, Calif.) that sandwiched a marker by junior Ryan Linn (Bourne, Mass.).  The two teams then traded the lead four times (setting for a 5-5 deadlock at the break) before Wentworth took an 8-7 lead on goals by Pappas (on a man-up situation) and sophomore Justin Connors (Richboro, Pa.) in an 11-second span with 4:06 to play in the third quarter, and the visitors took a 9-8 edge into the final 15 minutes of action before tallies by senior Connor Burke (Del Mar, Calif.) and sophomore Kyle Lersch (Suffolk, Va.) that came 24 seconds apart staked Massachusetts Maritime to a 10-9 lead, setting up the late Leopard comeback.

Pappas accounted for over half of his team's scoring with six goals in the victory for Wentworth, which also received a pair of tallies and three assists off the stick of Cox as well as a marker and helper each from Connors and senior Jeff Novak (Killingworth, Conn.).  Brian Burke netted a hat trick and an assist to finish with four points in the setback for Massachusetts Maritime, which also received a pair of goals and three assists from Connor Burke as well as a pair of tallies off the sticks of Lersch and Linn.  Sophomore Will Doucette (Manchester, Mass.) added two markers for the Buccaneers, who also received an assist from junior Craig Nichols (Marshfield, Mass.).

Senior Sean Tobin (Silver Spring, Md.) picked up the win in goal for Wentworth with an eight-save effort, while senior James Hitchings (Dover, Mass.) made 12 stops in net for Massachusetts Maritime as the Leopards outshot the Buccaneers by a 32-30 margin for the match.

Massachusetts Maritime hosts New York Maritime in the 2nd Annual Maritime Cup contest on Saturday afternoon at Clean Harbors Stadium beginning at 1:00 p.m., while Wentworth heads to Newport, R.I. on Saturday afternoon to open Commonwealth Coast Conference play against Salve Regina in a league match that begins at 3:30 p.m.