WENHAM, Mass. – Senior Steve Glover (Marstons Mills, Mass.), junior Ryan Coakley (Flemington, N.J.), sophomore Alec Paradis (Pelham, N.H.), and junior Michael Cushera (Waltham, Mass.) combined to account for 19 points to help pace the Wentworth Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team to its third straight win, a 15-12 triumph over Gordon in Commonwealth Coast Conference action.
Gordon jumped out to a 4-0 lead on two goals from Jordan Heckelmann (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and a goal apiece from Ryan Utz (Rochester, N.Y.) and Jake Martin (Watertown, Conn.) and held the Leopards off the board until there was 5:06 left when sophomore James Caldwell (New Milford, Conn.) got the Black & Gold on the board.
With 1:31 left in the opening frame, Cushera capitalized on a man-up opportunity and made it a 4-2 game. Cushera second man-up marker would bring the leopards within a goal early in the second quarter before Martin pushed the Fighting Scots' lead to two midway through the second quarter.
Four straight goals – coming in a span of 1:42 – erased the deficit and gave the Leopards a 7-5 lead. Coakley tallied twice while Glover and senior Chris Kipp (Scarbrough, Maine) had a goal apiece.
Sam Spellman (Lewes, Del.) scored just 10 seconds into the third quarter to bring the hosts to within a goal and the two teams would alternate scoring the next four goals with Heckelmann scoring with 6:15 left to make it a 9-8 contest.
Wentworth scored the next two and took an 11-8 lead after Kipp's goal with 3:07 left. Gordon scored two of the next three to make it 12-10 after three quarters.
Coakley's man-up goal with 10:16 left made it a 13-10 game, however the Fighting Scots would get goals from Martin and Spellman to pull within one with 6:08 left. Glover provided insurance as he scored the next two goals.
Glover finished with five goals, Coakley had four goals and three assists, Paradis had a goal and four assists, Cushera had two goals and two assists, and Kipp would finish with two goals and an assist. Caldwell scored the other Wentworth goal, caused a pair of turnovers, and picked up four ground balls. Senior Jared Proulx (Nashua, N.H.) made 14 saves in the win.
Hecklemann and Martin had four goals each for Gordon while Peter Kovacevic (Pittsburgh, Pa.) won 19-of-29 face-offs and scooped up a game-high 13 groundballs. Cody Greenwald (Albany, N.Y.) made 17 stops in the loss.
Both teams continue CCC play on Tuesday evening as Wentworth (6-6, 3-3) hosts Salve Regina and Gordon (7-7, 3-3) hosts Nichols.
