AUBURNDALE, Mass. – Senior Casey Sullivan's (Quaker Hill, Conn.) goal with 5:19 left in the fourth quarter proved to be the game-winning tally as the Lasell College men's lacrosse team held on for an 8-7 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology in a non-conference contest at Grellier Field.
With the win the Lasers improve to 4-2 while the Leopards fall to 0-6 with three of their losses coming by a single goal.
Senior Nick Parent (Windham, N.H.) got the scoring started for the Leopards when he scored 3:18 into the contest. However, single goals from sophomore Austin Tomasetti (Elmsford, N.Y.) and junior Josh Gallant (Hampstead, N.H.) put the hosts on top 2-1 at the end of the first quarter.
Tomasetti tallied the only goal of the second quarter as Lasell took a 3-1 lead into the locker room.
With 7:38 left in the third quarter, freshman Jason Buck (Manlius, N.Y.) made it a 3-2 game however Sullivan and Tomasetti scored within 1:50 of each other to give the hosts a 5-2 lead after three quarters.
The teams traded goals in a span of 3:40 as sophomore Kevin Butler (Jefferson, Mass.) and Buck scored for Wentworth and freshman Ryan Madden (Hingham, Mass.) scored a pair of goals for Lasell. With 5:19 left Sullivan made it an 8-4 game.
A pair of man-up goals from Parent and freshman Cameron Criniti (Berlin, Conn.) pulled Wentworth within a pair at 8-6 and Criniti scored with 2:20 left to make it an 8-7 game. Off the ensuing face off, Wentworth gained possession and had a pair of shots that went wide. On the second one, the Lasers had possession with 43 seconds left. Junior Eric Iacaboni (Sterling, Mass.) would cause a turnover giving Wentworth a chance to tie with 20 seconds left. Out of a time out the Leopards would set up a potential game-tying play, however senior Mike Pino (Tewksbury, Mass.) caused a turnover just before the clock expired to seal the win.
Tomasetti finished with three goals while senior Pat Egan (Glen Rock, N.J.) had three assists. Gallant finished with a goal and a pair of assists and Sullivan added two goals. Junior Pete Dolan (Pearl River, N.Y.) scooped up a team-high four ground balls while Pino and freshman David Sheehan (Tewksbury, Mass.) caused a pair of turnovers apiece.
Parent, Buck, and Criniti had two goals apiece for the Black & Gold with senior Alec Paradis (Pelham, N.H.) tallying three assists. Senior James Caldwell (New Milford, Conn.) had six ground balls and three caused turnovers and classmate Sean Farrell (Wakefield, Mass.) also caused three turnovers.
Junior Jorge Salazar (Waltham, Mass.) made 11 saves in the win while sophomore Scott Boucher (Salisbury, N.H.) made four saves in the loss. Wentworth had an advantage in shots (35-21), ground balls (33-21), and face-offs (11-8).
The Leopards are at Emmanuel on Saturday.
