LEICESTER, Mass. – Junior attacker Steve Glover (Marstons Mills, Mass.) scored a career-high five goals to propel visiting Wentworth Institute of Technology to an 11-5 win over host Becker College in non-conference men's lacrosse action Monday evening at Alumni Field. The Leopards of Wentworth open their season at 1-0 while the Hawks of Becker fall to 1-2.
Wentworth freshman attacker Nick Parent (Windham, N.H.) added four goals, while sophomore attacker Ryan Coakley (Flemington, N.J.) finished with three assists.
Wentworth took the lead 5:51 into the game when Parent beat the Becker defense for his first collegiate goal, assisted by Coakley. Then with 7:06 remaining in the first quarter, Glover took it in himself, as the Leopards went up 2-0. Taking advantage of a man-up situation, Coakley fed sophomore midfielder Michael Cushera (Waltham, Mass.) for another goal with 4:01 left, and the Hawks were suddenly looking at a 3-0 deficit. Becker finally got on the board with 3:25 remaining in the first when senior midfielder Joe Ignagni (Kingston, Mass.) scored unassisted, the opening period ended with Wentworth holding a 3-1 advantage.
Early in the second, Coakley picked up his third assist of the night when he ducked behind the goal, then found an open Parent with a pass in front of the Becker net. Parent found pay dirt with the clock showing 11:32, and the lead was back up to three. The Hawks got that goal back just over two minutes later with two men up, as junior midfielder John DeAngelis (Swampscott, Mass.) had the unassisted score to cut the Becker deficit to 4-2. With just 2:06 left in the half, Becker freshman attacker Cody Leary (Sandwich, Mass.) blasted a goal home despite being a man down, assisted by freshman defenseman Ryan Kearney (Katonah, N.Y.), pulling the Hawks to within one. But 32 seconds later, Glover scored his second goal of the game with an assist from sophomore midfielder Dillon Lynch (Southwick, Mass.), and the teams went it halftime with Wentworth leading 5-3.
The early third period saw a flurry of scoring from both teams. 41 seconds into the quarter, the Leopards again went up by three goals when Lynch found Glover again on a man-up situation. With 12:38 remaining in the bracket, Glover scored his fourth goal, this time assisted by Parent, as Wentworth took a commanding 7-3 lead. 1:12 later, the Hawks stopped the bleeding when senior attacker Jeff Petersen (Syracuse, N.Y.) pushed through a goal, leaving him one shy of tying Josh Fask as Becker's all-time leader. Leary assisted on the score. But with 10:37 left, Coakley scored his first goal of the match, assisted by freshman attacker Alec Paradis (Pelham, N.H.). With 9.9 seconds remaining, Glover scored his fifth goal of the game, blasting a solo shot past Becker's netminder to give the Leopards a 9-4 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Glover would contribute with his passing as well, with 7:30 left in the game, he fed Parent for the Leopards' tenth goal of the night. Parent's fourth goal came with 6:14 remaining on a man-up, with an assist to Cushera, and Wentworth extended their lead to 11-4. With just 1:50 left in the game, Becker sophomore midfielder Alex Rossman (Newington, Conn.) scored off a pass from sophomore attacker David Deschenes (Gales Ferry, Conn.). The score of 11-5 would hold up until the clock ticked down to zero.
Wentworth junior goalie Jared Proulx (Nashua, N.H.) had nine saves while Becker senior goalie Michael Munoz (Avon, Conn.) finished with 17 stops.
Up next for the Hawks, the team travels to SUNY Maritime to take on the Privateers on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. The Leopards of Wentworth will face the Beacons at UMass Boston on Thursday, March 14th at 3:00 p.m.
(Recap Courtesy of Becker Sports Information)
