BOSTON, Mass. – Junior Kevin Butler (Jefferson, Mass.) scored four goals and assisted on a fifth to lift the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team over Regis (Mass.) and snap the Leopards' six-game losing streak with a 9-5 win over the Pride in non-conference action on Sweeney Field.
The Leopards, who won for the first time since March 28, improve to 6-8 on the season while the Pride falls to 4-8 after their three-game win streak was halted.
Butler and senior Sean Farmer (Billerica, Mass.) put the hosts on the board with a pair of goals spanning just under five minutes. Regis junior AJ Karofsky (Barrington, R.I.) cut the lead to one with a goal with 3:25 left before senior Mike Coakley (Flemington, N.J.) made it 3-1 after the opening quarter.
Both teams scored twice in the second quarter as sophomore Spencer Allen (New Boston, N.H.) upped the lead to 4-1 before senior Nick Romig (Dedham, Mass.) and senior Alex Ferran (Miami, Fla.) brought the lead back to one with goals spanning just under three minutes. With 3:27 left in the half Butler made it a 5-3 game off sophomore Jason Buck's (Manlius, N.Y.) second helper of the game.
Junior Calvin Brault (Colchester, Vt.) made it a one-goal game once again when he scored from Ferran with 10:18 left in the third, however Butler and freshman Riley Smith (Plaistow, N.H.) scored two goals each to extend the lead to 9-4 through three quarters.
Karofsky set up senior Brandon Mehler (Bay Shore, N.Y.) for the only scoring in the fourth quarter.
Despite the loss, senior goalkeeper D.J. Barrile (Medford, Mass.) made an impressive 20 saves on the afternoon. The performance fell one save shy of matching a season-high.
In addition to Butler's five points, sophomore Chris Quinn (Newton, Mass.) had three assists, Allen had a goal and two assists, Smith had two goals, and Buck had two assists. Sophomore Peter Andersson (Madison, N.J.) was 13-of-17 at the X and collected five ground balls. Freshman Jake Berry (Beverly, Mass.) had seven ground balls while classmate Kilian Ryan (Saranac Lake, N.Y.) caused three turnovers.
Five different players scored goals for Regis, including Karofsky and Ferran who each also had an assist while junior Danny Rancano (Miami, Fla.) had two assists for the Pride. Mehler and senior Barrile (Medford, Mass.) scooped up five ground balls.
Junior Adam Dufault (Lexington, Mass.) made six saves in the win while Barrile had 20 stops in defeat. Wentworth had a 45-18 shot advantage and 41-23 edge in ground balls. Both teams successfully cleared the ball 21 times with the Leopards being successful on 21-of-24 attempts and Regis 21-of-30. Neither team scored a man-up goal in their two extra-man situations.
Wentworth will play its final home game of the 2017 season next Saturday (April 22) against Western New England. Regis is at Connecticut College on Wednesday.
#RegisMLAX