BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman attackman Nick Morello (North Billerica, Mass.) scored four goals and added an assist while sophomore attackman Chris Annunciata (Waltham, Mass.) finished with three goals and two assists to help pace the Plymouth State men's lacrosse team to a 12-7 win over Wentworth in a non-conference contest played on Sweeney Field.
The Panthers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in a span of 2:32 and never looked back as Morello scored the game's first two markers and Annunciata and junior midfielder Shawn McEvoy (Spring, Texas) had a goal apiece Annunicata and Morello also each had an assist in the opening run. The Leopards got on the board when junior Mark Pappas (Worcester, Mass.) found sophomore attackman Steve Glover (Marstons Mills, Mass.) with 4:04 left but Plymouth State scored the game's next two goals and led, 6-1, after one.
Plymouth State upped its lead to 7-1 midway through the second quarter on a goal from sophomore attackman Brett Miller (Windham, Mass.) before Wentworth got goals from freshman midfielder Michael Cushera (Waltham, Mass.) and sophomore attackman Jeff Guilherme (Derry, N.H.) to make it a 7-3 game. A McEvoy goal with 33 seconds left upped the lead to 8-3 but Pappas ended the half with a goal with one tenth of a second left in the stanza.
The Panthers did all the scoring in the third quarter with Annunciata and Morello each scoring twice and junior midfielder Ty Long (Dover, N.H.) adding a pair of assists.
Trailing 12-4 entering the final 15:00 of play, the Black & Gold scored the quarter's only goals as sophomore midfielder Chris Kipp (Scarborough, Maine) scored twice and Pappas added his second of the game.
McEvoy finished with two goals while Long finished with two assists for the Panthers, who had a 43-26 edge in shots and a 46-35 edge in ground balls.
Pappas scored twice and added an assist, while Kipp netted a pair of goals. Senior midfielder Justin Connors (Richboro, Pa.) assisted on two Leopard goals. Wentworth held a 12-10 advantage at the face-off X with freshman midfielder Kyle Lagarto (Cumberland, R.I.) winning 7-of-11 draws.
Senior Jack Tyo (East Sandwich, Mass.) made eight saves in 51:55 of work before being replaced by sophomore Jesse Kutz (Hopkinton, Mass.), who made one save over the final 8:05. Junior Jared Proulx (Nashua, N.H.) made 12 stops in 45:00 of work before giving way to sophomore Jeff Bathalon (Maynard, Mass.), who made six saves in the fourth quarter.
Winners of three straight Plymouth State improves to 3-1 on the season and is at St. Joseph's on Saturday. Wentworth dropped its third straight to fall to 1-3. The Leopards open Commonwealth Coast Conference play on Wednesday night against the University of New England.
SCORE BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot
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Plymouth State...... 6 2 4 0 - 12
Wentworth........... 1 3 0 3 - 7
Plymouth State SCORING: GOALS: Nick Morello 4; Chris Annunciata 3; Shawn McEvoy 2; Brett Miller 1; Jared Woodell 1; Mike Curley 1.
ASSISTS: Chris Annunciata 2; Ty Long 2; Zach Frank 1; Nick Morello 1.
Wentworth SCORING: GOALS: Mark Pappas 2; Chris Kipp 2; Jeff Guilherme 1; Michael Cushera 1; Steve Glover 1.
ASSISTS: Justin Connors 2; Al Bove 1; Jeff Guilherme 1; Mark Pappas 1.
GROUND BALLS - Plymouth State 46; Wentworth 35
SHOTS - Plymouth State 43; Wentworth 26.
SHOTS ON GOAL - Plymouth State 32; Wentworth 16.
Penalties - Plymouth State 5/4:00; Wentworth 6/5:00.
MAN-UP OPPORTUNITIES - Plymouth State 2-6; Wentworth 2-5.
TURNOVERS - Plymouth State 26; Wentworth 30.
FACEOFFS - Plymouth State 10-22; Wentworth 12-22.
CLEARS - Plymouth State 23-28; Wentworth 22-28.
GOALIES - PSU: Jack Tyo 3-0 (51:55 minutes, 13 shots-8 saves, 5 GA), Jesse Kutz (08:05, 3-1, 2); WIT: Jeff Bathalon (15:00, 6-6, 0) , Jared Proulx 1-3 (45:00, 26-14, 12).
