WESTON, Mass. – The Regis College men's lacrosse team nearly overcame a four goal deficit late in the fourth quarter, but SUNY Canton held on for a 9-7 victory on Saturday afternoon in non-conference action in Weston, Mass. Regis dips below .500 at 2-3 on the year, while the Kangaroos grab their first win of 2013 to improve to 1-2.
The Pride struck first in the opening quarter as Peter Leighton (Wilmington, Mass.) found Billy Stewart (West Roxbury, Mass.) on the goal line for a quick shot that put the Pride on top 1-0. Chris Gamble (Carthage, N.Y.) answered for the Kangaroos as he slipped through the Pride defense for an open shot that knotted the score at 1-1. Following a Regis penalty, Rob Gleason (Vestal, N.Y.) found Jason Thompson (Massena, N.Y.) in front of the net for the man-up score to give the Roos a 2-1 lead after one quarter.
Canton scored the first two goals of the second quarter on tallies by Patrick Connelly (Chittenango, N.Y.) and Steve Novak (Seymour, Conn.) to take a 4-1 lead with 5:55 to play in the opening half. Nicky Rodrigo (Miami, Fla.) finally broke through for the Pride in the second quarter as his unassisted goal on a fastbreak chance left the Pride trailing 4-2 headed into the break.
SUNY Canton's Chris Gamble took advantage of another man-up opportunity for SUNY Canton as he took a Taylor Caswell (Potsdam, N.Y.) feed and sniped a shot past the Regis keeper to push the Roos' lead back to three. After a turnover by Canton, Nick Dallas (Huntington Beach, Calif.) scooped up the groundball and raced down the right side of the field, where he slipped a pass to Matt Vogan (Belmont, Mass.), who buried a shot on the fastbreak, making it a 5-3 game. SUNY Canton answered a mere 32 seconds later following a Pride turnover as Gamble found Thompson with a quick pass that the sophomore rocketed past the Pride keeper, making it a 6-3 game.
Chris Campbell (South Hadley, Mass.) started the fourth quarter with a goal on a feed from Billy Stewart and the Pride scored again 42 seconds later as Peter Leighton hit Vogan for a one-timer goal to put the Pride within one score, 6-5. The Kangaroos answered with a quick 3-0 run on a pair of Gamble goals and another Gleason man-up tally to take what seemed to be a commanding 9-5 lead with under five minutes to play.
Two late penalties by the Roos kept the Pride in the game as Billy Stewart scored on a feed from Campbell to make it a 9-6 game. Campbell then returned the favor as he drew the defense and allowed Stewart to take an open shot on net to make it a 9-7 lead. The Pride's Jack O'Brien (Milton, Mass.) won the final faceoff to give Regis another chance at cutting into the lead, but Corey Spuck (Rochester, N.Y.) stoned a Stewart shot attempt and the Kangaroos ran out the clock to hang onto the 9-7 win.
Regis outshot SUNY Canton at a 46-35 clip and also held a 37-21 advantage in groundballs. Jack O'Brien went 14-for-18 on face-offs to help lead the Pride to a 14-for-20 day at the X. SUNY Canton took advantage of the man-up opportunities, going 3-for-3 with the extra attacker, while the Kangaroos were also very good on clears, going 25-of-30.
Billy Stewart led three scorers with multiple goals as the junior scored a pair of goals and had two assists for a four point day. Matt Vogan and Chris Campbell also added two goals apiece, while Nicky Rodrigo added the final goal for the Pride. Jack O'Brien led the Pride defense with 15 groundballs, while Stephan Bottex (Norwood, Mass.) scooped up three ground balls and caused three turnovers. Morgan Ford (Smyrna, Ga.) suffered the setback in net, making 11 saves.
Chris Gamble led the Kangaroos' attack with four goals and an assist. Jason Thompson scored a pair of goals, while Novak, Connelly, and Gleason scored the other goals. Taylor Caswell led the team with a pair of assists. Mike Matthews (Canton, N.Y.) and Richard Brogden (Derwood, Md.) led the defense with three groundballs apiece. Corey Spuck made 19 saves and added a pair of groundballs en route to his first win of the year.
Regis returns to action next Saturday when the Pride host Mitchell College in a New England Collegiate Conference matchup. SUNY Canton takes on those same Mariners tomorrow afternoon in a 1:00 p.m. non-league matchup.