WESTON, Mass. - Junior AJ Karofsky (Barrington, R.I.) beat the buzzer in overtime on Wednesday afternoon on Senior Day, scoring the game winning goal with a fraction of a second left on the clock to lift the Regis (Mass.) men's lacrosse team to a 9-8 overtime win over Becker College in New England Collegiate Conference action.
With the win, the Pride improves to 4-7 on the season and stays perfect at 3-0 in NECC play. The Hawks fall to 3-9 on the season, 2-1 in the NECC.
After a scramble in front of the Becker net, a shot from Calvin Brault (Colchester, Vt.) got turned away by Becker goalkeeper Trey McMillen (Grapevine, Texas), but Karofsky was able to shovel it into the net on the rebound just before the horn sounded for the Pride's first overtime win of the season. Previously, the Pride had dropped three trips to overtime this season before finally netting an OT game winner on Wednesday.
Before the game, the Regis Athletic Department honored the team's seven seniors. The graduating members of the Class of 2017 were joined on the field by their families and were honored for their service to Regis Athletics over the past four years.
The first half was a defensive battle between the Hawks and the Pride, as the teams combined for just five goals in the afternoon's first 30 minutes. Senior Brandon Mehler (Bay Shore, N.Y.) scored his second goal of the half with just 21 seconds remaining in the second quarter to give the Pride a 3-2 lead at the break.
The teams split four goals in the third quarter, and after a 3-0 lead in the fourth and final quarter gave Becker a 7-6 lead, Karofsky and senior Alex Ferran (Miami, Fla.) scored 15 seconds apart to give the Pride the lead with 2:33 remaining. The advantage was short-lived for the Pride, however, as junior Avyay Chaganty (Bridgewater, N.J.) scored 31 seconds later to tie the game and send it to overtime.
The Pride appeared to be in trouble in the overtime period, as two one-minute penalties were called on Regis defenders at the 1:24 mark of the overtime, but goalkeeper D.J. Barrile (Medford, Mass.) came up with his biggest save of the afternoon on the man-down situation on the lone Hawk overtime shot on goal. Just 23 seconds after killing off the penalties, Karofsky scored his overtime winner to give the Pride its third consecutive win.
The goalkeepers were big for their respective teams on the afternoon, as Barrile got the win by making nine saves. McMillen turned away 14 Pride shots despite taking the loss.
Senior Blake Boutiette (Burrillville, R.I.) and Chaganty led the way for the Hawks by each netting hat tricks, while Ferran led the Pride with a hat trick of his own. Mehler had a strong Senior Day stat line, recording two goals and three assists, while adding 10 groundballs and winning 13 of his 15 faceoffs.
Next up for the Pride, they will travel to Wentworth on Saturday for a non-conference matchup at 11:00 a.m. Becker will be back in action the same day, hosting Nichols College at 1:00 p.m.
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