WESTON, Mass. – Clark University defeated Regis College by a score of 13-6 on Saturday afternoon in Pilgrim League men's lacrosse action in Weston, Mass. The Pride fall to 4-8 overall on the year and 0-3 in the Pilgrim League, while Clark improves to 7-4 and 2-1 in League games.
Peter Leighton (Wilmington, Mass.) opened the scoring for the Pride when he beat his defender 1-on-1 and juked the goalkeeper with a low shot to give Regis a 1-0 lead. Nicky Rodrigo (Miami, Fla.) gave the Pride a 2-0 advantage with an unassisted tally at the 5:55 mark, scoring in a similar fashion as Leighton. Clark's Jacob Maselek (Marblehead, Mass.) finally put the Cougars on the board before the end of the first quarter, as Rob Holden (East Longmeadow, Mass.) scooped up a groundball and found a cutting Maselek to knife the deficit in half.
Maselek's tally sparked the Clark offense as the Cougars scored five unanswered goals in the second quarter. Ryan Moore (West Hartford, Conn.) tied the game at 2-2 with a laser shot from 15 yards out that beat the Regis keeper. After a Regis possession, Alex Turgeon (Holden, Mass.) took the ball on the ensuing clear attempt and cut his way through the Pride defense and buried a bounce shot to give the Cougars their first lead of the game at 3-2.
A mere 38 seconds later, Jeffrey Wasson (Buckhorn, Ontario, Canada) came around the Regis net and hit a running low shot to put Clark on top 4-2. Wasson scored again with 1:04 remaining in the quarter on a feed from Rob Holden, and Holden ended the quarter with his first score of the game to give Clark the 6-2 lead headed into the half.
Regis' Chris Campbell (South Hadley, Mass.) answered with a goal to open the third quarter, taking a pass on the goal line from Nicky Rodrigo and beating Clark's Kevin Ranta (Beverly, Mass.) top shelf to make it a 6-3 game. Nick Figliola (Weston, Conn.) put the Cougars back on top by four when his shot attempt was knocked down, but trickled past the Pride's Morgan Ford (Smyrna, Ga.) and into the back of the net for the goal.
Rodrigo scored his second goal of the game to cut the deficit to 7-4, but Clark scored five-straight goals over the next eight minutes to take a commanding 12-4 lead. Alex Turgeon and Jacob Maselek scored the first two goals of the run before Jeffrey Wasson netted three-straight tallies for the Cougars. Chris Campbell ended the streak as he got a shot off with only one second showing on the clock that found the back of the net as the Pride entered the fourth quarter trailing 12-5.
Maselek put the Cougars on top 13-5 and on the ensuing face-off, the Pride's Andrew Goldberg (Solebury, Pa.) drew two defenders and slipped a pass to Nicky Rodrigo. Rodrigo then hit Matt Vogan (Belmont, Mass.) with a quick pass and Vogan beat Ranta 1-on-1 to make it a 13-6 game. Neither offense threatened much over the final seven-plus minutes as the Cougars held on for the 13-6 win.
Clark outshot the Pride at a 44-30 clip and also held a 35-34 edge in groundballs. The Cougars committed only 14 turnovers compared to Regis' 26 and Clark was a perfect 19-for-19 on clear attempts.
Rodrigo led the Pride offense with four points on a pair of goals and two assists. Chris Campbell added a pair of scores as well, while Peter Leighton and Matt Vogan added the other goals for the Pride. Andrew Goldberg scooped up seven groundballs and Jack O'Brien (Milton, Mass.) added eight of his own while going 14-for-18 on faceoffs for the day. Stephan Bottex (Norwood, Mass.) caused a team-high six turnovers for the Pride defense. Morgan Ford suffered the setback, while making a season-high 18 saves on the day.
Clark's Jeffrey Wasson scored five goals and Jacob Maselek added a hat-trick for the visitors. Alex Turgeon scored his first two goals of the season, with Rob Holden, Nick Figliola, and Ryan Moore also scoring for Clark. Maselek and Wasson also led the Cougars with five groundballs apiece, while Zach Duffy (Wakefield, Mass.) had a team-high three caused turnovers. Kevin Ranta improves to 7-4 on the season, allowing six goals and making five stops.
The Pride return to action on Wednesday night as Regis travels to MIT for a 7:00 p.m. Pilgrim League game. Clark will take on Springfield College on Wednesday night, also at 7:00 p.m.