Men’s Lacrosse Picks Up First Win of 2020

WATERVILLE, Maine – Regis College took the early lead, withstood a comeback attempt by Thomas College in the second quarter, and then pulled away after halftime as the Pride defeated the Terriers, 14-6, Wednesday evening in a non-conference men's collegiate lacrosse match at Bernatchez Field.

Freshman Ryan Richardson (Corona, Calif.) led the Pride with six goals, while Michael Daras (Danvers, Mass.) collected four goals and two assists and Brent Young (Feeding Hills, Mass.) added three goals and two assists. Brendon Donahue (Lynn, Mass.) earned 16 ground balls as the Pride won 17 of 22 faceoffs, and Nick Penta (Andover, Mass.) finished with 15 saves for the second consecutive match as well as a career-high 71.4 percent save percentage.

The Pride opened the scoring just six seconds after the Terriers were called for a penalty, as Young found Richardson for a man-up tally. Only 48 seconds later, Richardson would score again, this time off an assist by Daras, to extend the Regis lead to 2-0, where it would remain at the end of the opening period.

Thomas (0-1) got on the board just 1:34 into the second quarter as Matt Craig found Jack Gallagher for a goal. The Pride quickly answered back as Daras scored 33 seconds later off an assist from Brian Wagner (Melrose, Mass.), and then Daras assisted on Young's man-up goal to give the Pride a 4-1 lead.

The Terriers closed to within one on goals by Max Irons and Mathew Crisco, but Young picked up his second goal of the period thanks to a pass from Wagner 20 seconds after Crisco's goal. However, just 49 seconds after Young's most recent goal, Crisco set up Daniel MacWhinnie for a tally to bring Thomas back within one at 5-4 heading into halftime.

Regis put the game away by scoring six straight goals in the third quarter, starting with Young completing his hat trick just 1:26 into the second half. Blake Johnson (Oviedo, Fla.) scored just over four minutes later, and then Richardson and Daras collected two goals apiece in the period as the Pride went into the fourth quarter with an 11-4 advantage.

In the final quarter, Gallagher and Irons each picked up their second goals of the game for the Terriers, but in between Richardson scored twice, both on man-up opportunities, and Daras added one more goal off an assist by Jesse Bedon (Wallingford, Conn.) to complete the Pride scoring output.

Donahue finished the game 15-for-17 on faceoffs, picking up many of the ground balls himself. The Pride were 4-for-6 on man-up opportunities and 19-for-21 on clear attempts. In net, Penta made nine saves before halftime to keep Regis ahead, and then he collected four more saves in the third quarter to allow the Pride to pull away.

The win was the first for head coach Matthew Sweeney at the helm of the Pride lacrosse program. The 14 goals were the most scored by Regis since the 2018 season finale against Albertus Magnus, when the Pride earned a 17-14 victory April 25, 2018.

Regis (1-1) opens its home schedule next Wednesday, March 11, against Mitchell College starting at 7 p.m. at Regis Stadium.