STRONG FOURTH QUARTER FUELS PRIDE WIN OVER EAGLES

STRONG FOURTH QUARTER FUELS PRIDE WIN OVER EAGLES

WESTON, Mass. – Three different Regis College players scored at least three goals apiece, as the Pride shut down visiting Daniel Webster College, 13-5 in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's lacrosse action on Thursday afternoon. The Pride improve to 3-5 overall, 1-2 NECC, while the Eagles fall to 1-4 on the season, 0-2 in league play.

The Pride found themselves trailing early after Anthony Cotoni (Groton, Mass.) scored back-to-back unassisted goals to put DWC up 2-0 with under five minutes into play. Peter Leighton (Wilmington, Mass.) would finally get Regis on the board at the 7:59 mark when he finished off a pass from Nicky Rodrigo (Miami, Fla.) for one of his three goals on the day.

Just over three minutes later, Rodrigo would tie things up for the Crimson & Gold. Rodrigo collected a pass from classmate Zach Goodsell (Rochester, N.Y.) and took a blistering shot that found the back of the net at the 4:17 mark of the first quarter for the 2-2 tie.

Sean Hamilton (Brookline, N.H.) of Daniel Webster was the only player to score in the entire second quarter, and the Eagles entered halftime with the narrow 3-2 lead.

Leighton and Rodrigo connected for the second time of the day less than two minutes into the third quarter to tie the game at three apiece. This time, however, the roles were reversed as it was Leighton who fed Rodrigo the ball for the score.

Chris Campbell (South Hadley, Mass.) gave the Pride their first lead of the day four minutes later. The junior midfielder took a low, hard shot from ten yards outside the visitor's net that just beat goalkeeper Tommy Driscoll (South Boston, Mass.).

The Eagles were able to capitalize on a man-up opportunity at the 5:00 minute mark to knot things up again, 4-4. Jay McGrath (Chelmsford, Mass.) collected a pass from Bobby Loranger (Billerica, Mass.) just outside the crease, and McGrath slammed the ball home past Pride goalkeeper Morgan Ford (Smyrna, Ga.), who would finish with six saves on the day.

Rodrigo answered again for the Pride minutes later, putting the host team up 5-4 to close out the third quarter, with an assist coming from Billy Stewart (West Roxbury, Mass.).

The fourth and final quarter saw Regis erupt for nine goals, highlighted by three unanswered and four total from Stewart, to put Regis up 11-5 with just under five minutes remaining in regulation. Leighton would add some insurance, scoring back-to-back goals in the last three minutes to help the Pride finish the game with the 13-5 victory.

Driscoll finished with a game-high 16 saves in the losing effort for the Eagles, who were also led by Cotoni's two goal, one assist performance.

The Eagles will be back in action on Tuesday, April 2nd when they host Anna Maria College at 4:00 p.m. The Pride will play the following day when they host Springfield at 6:00 p.m.