RODRIGO'S 12 POINT DAY FUELS PRIDE WIN

WESTON, Mass. – Sophomore attack Nicky Rodrigo (Miami, Fla.) scored eight goals and dished out four assists for a 12 point day to help lead the Regis College men's lacrosse team to a 20-3 victory over Johnson State College on Wednesday afternoon.

The Pride improve to 9-4 on the year and have won three-straight games, while Johnson State falls to 0-6.

Senior Matt Vogan (Billerica, Mass.) scored seven goals and added an assist for Regis, while Peter Leighton (Wilmington, Mass.) had a pair of goals and three assists in the win. Freshman D.J. Barrile (Medford, Mass.) picked up his second win of the season while making 10 saves on the day.

Rodrigo scored the first two goals of the game as Peter Fucci (Amherst, N.H.) found the sophomore in front for a quick shot to put the Pride on top 1-0. Nearly a minute later, Leighton picked up his first assist of the day as he found Rodrigo cutting in front of the net for his second tally of the game with 12:18 remaining in the first quarter.

Johnson State answered with two-straight goals of their own, both on the fastbreak, to tie the game at 2-2. Off a caused turnover, Zach Shuttle (Georgia, Vt.) pushed the ball ahead and hit Jefferson Lawler (St. Albans, Vt.) for a blast from 20 yards out to cut the deficit to one. Matthew Malek (East Barre, Vt.) scored the equalizer on a clear attempt as Jacob Eustis (Cumberland, Maine) hit Malek with a pass that led to a quick shot and left score knotted at 2-2.

Peter Leighton entered the scoring column with 8:32 to play in the opening quarter as Fucci picked up his second assist of the day on a nice pass in front to give Regis a 3-2 lead. Following an own goal by the Badgers that made it 4-2, Mason Phillips (Sackets Harbor, N.Y.) circled around from the back of the net and beat Barrile top shelf to cut the deficit to one. Some nifty passing by the Pride led to Vogan's first strike of the game as Regis took a 5-3 lead into the second quarter.

Regis would score five goals in the second quarter to take a 10-3 lead into the half. Rodrigo scored four times in the period, with Vogan adding his second tally. Billy Stewart (West Roxbury, Mass.) picked up a pair of assists, while Vogan and Leighton also had helpers.

Out of the break, Regis tacked on five more goals in the third as Vogan scored a pair to go with scores by Rodrigo, Leighton, and Chris Campbell (South Hadley, Mass.), while Rodrigo had two assists and Zach Roy (Saugus, Mass.) had one of his own. The Pride scored five more times in the final quarter as Vogan netted three more and Rodrigo and Alex Ferran (Miami, Fla.) had scores to lead to the final margin of 20-3.

The Pride held a 60-25 advantage in shots and a 57-27 edge in groundballs. Regis won 22-of-26 face-offs highlighted by Jack O'Brien's (Milton, Mass.) 19-of-22 showing in the circle to go with a game-high 14 groundballs.

Johnson State's Jay Palmisano (Barre, Vt.) made 14 saves for the Badgers in the setback. Zach Shuttle led JSC with six groundballs and three caused turnovers, while Philip Perkins (Brattleboro, Vt.) had five groundballs and a pair of caused turnovers.

Both teams are back in action on Saturday as the Pride travel to Bard College on Saturday afternoon for a 12:00 p.m. game. Johnson State looks for its first win of the year when they take on Maine Farmington at 5:00 p.m.