Halftime lead slips away as Wheaton falls to Eastern Connecticut, 13-9

March 24, 2007

MANSFIELD, MA- The Wheaton College men's lacrosse team saw a two-goal halftime advantage wiped out behind six unanswered third-period tallies from Eastern Connecticut State University, as the Warriors downed the Lyons, 13-9 on Saturday at Mansfield High School. In the teams' first contest since 2001, the Lyons remained winless on the season at 0-4, while Eastern Connecticut State improved to 1-4.

Each of Wheaton's first two goals knotted the game, as junior Richie Rasamny (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) tallied on the man advantage with 2:57 remaining in the first quarter off freshman Drew Schaffer's (New Haven, CT/Loomis Chaffee School) assist before Schaffer scored early in the second. The Lyons netted the next two goals, as Rasamny assisted senior Markus Ricci (Wayland, MA/Wayland) before scoring at 8:36. Each team scored once more before halftime, as Wheaton took a 5-3 lead into the intermission and looked to be in control.

The third quarter was a different story entirely, as the Warriors tallied six times on 14 shots while holding the Lyons off the board on 10 shots. After scoring three times in the first 32:21 of the contest, Eastern Connecticut State matched that output during a pivotal 1:20 span early in the period that pushed it back out in front, as sophomore Matthew Savage (Southington, CT/Southington) sandwiched a pair of goals around senior Dave Carpenter's (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) tally.

The onslaught continued later in the period, as Carpenter and Savage scored 50 seconds apart to put the Warriors up, 8-5 with 3:50 left. Senior Kyle MacDonald (Hamden, CT/Hamden) tallied with 5.1 ticks remaining before he and Savage each found the back of the net early in the final quarter to give their team its largest lead, 11-5 with 11:11 to go in regulation. From there, Wheaton tallied four of the game's final six goals while attempting a late rally. Ricci recorded two of those markers, including the final tally with exactly 1:00 remaining.

Ricci led the Lyons with his third career hat trick, notching three goals, while Rasamny added two goals and an assist, and freshman Tim Horan (Cheshire, CT/Cheshire) scored twice. Schaffer had his best game with a goal and three assists, while junior Jeremy Beech (West Newbury, MA/Governor Dummer Academy) added 12 saves.

Carpenter, MacDonald and Savage played a hand in 11 of the Warriors' 13 goals, as the three were the team's lone multi-point scorers. Savage contributed four goals and an assist, Carpenter had three tallies and helpers each, while MacDonald added three goals and two assists. Sophomore Kyle Savage (Southington, CT/Southington) was stellar in net, making numerous tough saves among his 14.

The Lyons return to action on Wednesday at Trinity College in a 4:00 p.m. contest.

SCORING: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Eastern Connecticut State (1-4) 1 2 6 4 13
Wheaton (0-4) 1 4 0 4 9

Cumulative Scoring:
Goals: WC- Markus Ricci 3, Tim Horan 2, Richie Rasamny 2, Drew Schaffer, Conor Whitney; ECSU- Matthew Savage 4, Dave Carpenter 3, Kyle MacDonald 3, Patrick Joy, DJ Simmons, Jon Snedeker

Assists: WC- Schaffer 3, Rasamny, Marco Barbone; ECSU- Carpenter 3, MacDonald 2, Savage, Tommy Laverty

Goalkeeper Saves: WC- Jeremy Beech 12; ECSU- Kyle Savage 14

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 3/24/07.
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