Wheaton holds close with third-ranked WNEC before falling

April 28, 2007

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College men's lacrosse team trailed third-ranked Western New England College just 2-1 midway through the second quarter before the Golden Bears tallied six times in a 1:59 span to pull away in a 19-5 Pilgrim League contest on Saturday in Mirrione Stadium. The Lyons fell to 4-10 overall and 4-4 in league play, needing a fortuitous turn of events to occur to make the conference tournament. Western New England wrapped up a perfect regular season, finishing 14-0 and 8-0 to clinch its second straight regular season Pilgrim title.

Despite being outshot 15-5 in the opening quarter, the Lyons trailed by just one when the final horn sounded. Senior Adam Cherry (Westfield, MA/Westfield) tallied for the visitors at 6:10, but senior Trey Helms (Cockeysville, MD/Saint Paul's School) evened the game off junior Richie Rasamny's (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) pass with 3:10 remaining. Cherry found the back of the net again at 1:20, giving WNEC the lead for good.

The teams stayed in a 2-1 game until midway through the second, when the Golden Bears scored six times between the 7:25 and 5:26 marks. Juniors Bryan Cofrin (Londonderry, NH/Pinkerton Academy) and Ben Reardon (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow) scored 22 seconds apart to start the run, while Reardon and juniors Travis Brown (Montpelier, VT/Montpelier) and Nick Coppola (Old Brookville, NY/Kellenberg Memorial) later each tallied in an 18-tick span. Cherry finished the stretch with his third goal of the contest.

Western New England took a 9-1 lead into the locker room and scored the first three goals of the second half before Wheaton broke a 26:23 scoreless stretch when Rasamny tallied off a Helms pass with 6:36 left in the third. The Golden Bears then used a 7-1 run to go up 19-3 before sophomore Marco Barbone (Newton, MA/Newton North) and freshman Tim Horan (Cheshire, CT/Cheshire) provided the Lyons the final two goals.

Horan's two markers led Wheaton, while Helms and Rasamny each had a goal and an assist. Freshman Drew Schaffer (New Haven, CT/Loomis Chaffee School) added a pair of helpers, while classmate Schuyler Horn (New Hartford, CT/Kingswood-Oxford School) turned in numerous superb saves among his 13 stops.

Cofrin paced the Golden Bears with three goals and two assists, while Cherry and sophomore Scott Kukis (Sudbury, MA/The Winchendon School) also each notched hat tricks. Reardon, senior Zack Sondrini (Pittsfield, MA/Pittsfield) and sophomore Chuck Cartelli (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) each scored twice, while a quartet of goalies combined on 10 saves. Junior Chris Body (Newtown, CT/Newtown) earned the win.

SCORING: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Western New England (14-0, 8-0) 2 7 7 3 19
Wheaton (4-10, 4-4) 1 0 2 2 5

Cumulative Scoring:
Goals: WC- Tim Horan 2, Marco Barbone, Trey Helms, Richie Rasamny; WNEC- Adam Cherry 3, Bryan Cofrin 3, Scott Kukis 3, Chuck Cartelli 2, Ben Reardon 2, Zack Sondrini 2, Travis Brown, Nick Coppola, Mike Kelly, Ryan LaChance

Assists: WC- Drew Schaffer 2, Helms, Rasamny; WNEC- Cofrin 2, Brown, Cherry, Kukis, LaChance, Jedd Brown, Bill Greider, Jon Hayes, Brian Praetorius, Stephen Toomy, Mike Welsch

Goalie Saves: WC- Schuyler Horn 13; WNEC- Chris Body (45:00) 5, James Ells (8:48) 4, Eric Lajoie (3:04) 0, Rob Titus (3:08) 1

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