BOSTON, Mass. - Junior Dan Auger (Nashua, N.H.) recorded three goals and three assists while scooping up five ground balls to help the University of New England men's lacrosse team to its third straight win with a 13-8 triumph over Wentworth Institute of Technology in Commonwealth Coast Conference action Tuesday night.
With the win, the Nor'Easters improve to 9-5 overall and 4-1 in CCC play, while the Leopards fall to 3-9 overall and 1-3 in conference play.
Neither team was able to find the back of the net through the first eight minutes of the first quarter, but it was UNE who struck first. At the 7:08 mark, freshman Alex Zadworny (Florence, Mass.) gave the Nor'easters the 1-0 advantage. Two minutes later, Auger set up sophomore Tom Luttrell (Greenbrae, Calif.) to push the UNE lead to 2-0. Goals from Zadowrny, freshman Mitch Mullin (Cumberland, Maine) and sophomore Matt Layton (Medford, N.Y.) helped power the Nor'easters to a 6-0 lead to end the first.
Senior Alec Paradis (Pelham, N.H.) set up freshman Spencer Allen (New Boston, N.H.) to get Wentworth on the board 6-1 at the 13:15 mark of the second. UNE quickly answered with a goal of its own from Auger to make the score 7-1. The Leopards cut the Nor'easters lead down to four as they tacked on two more goals by freshman Jason Buck (Manlius, N.Y.) and Allen with the score at 7-3 entering halftime.
In the third quarter, UNE never led by more than a four goal differential as Wentworth continued to chip away at the Nor'easters once commanding 7-1 lead. Allen's third goal of the game put the score at 7-4 at 11:06 and was followed up by a goal from junior Connor Leggett (Sunderland, Vt.) to put the lead back at four at 8-4. Paradis found the back of the net twice to put Wentworth within three, but Luttrell and freshman Mitch Mullin (Cumberland, Maine) tacked on two more goals to put UNE up 10-6 at the end of three.
Much like the first, neither Wentworth or UNE were able to find the back of the net through the first ten minutes of the fourth. UNE broke the scoreless streak at 5:51 on Auger's second goal of the game to put the score at 11-6. Wentworth now found themselves down by six as Mullin followed up with his third marker of the game to give UNE the 12-6 cushion with four minutes remaining. The Nor'easters added its 13th goal thanks to Auger, but Wentworth answered with two late goals from Allen and Paradis to put the score at 13-8.
Along with Auger, both Mullin and Zadworny tallied three goals apiece. Zadworny also had one assist and scooped up three ground balls, while Mullin scooped four ground balls. Junior Wyatt Ehrhardt (Temecula, Calif.) had six ground balls with junior Sam Conger (Holden, Mass.) going 9-for-10 in the X. Sophomore Matt Layton (Medford, N.Y.) went 8-for-11 at the X as a part of 18 face-offs won by the visitors. Senior John Dusel (Wilbraham, Mass.) earned the win with four saves in the first half with junior David Pearson (Scarborough, Maine) making five saves in the second half.
Allen and Paradis led the Leopards offense – Allen tallied four goals with two ground balls with Paradis scoring three times with two assists and four ground balls. Freshman Jason Buck (Manlius, N.Y.) and senior Tim Parlato (Needham, Mass.) had five ground balls each.
Sophomores Scott Boucher (Salisbury, N.H.) and Adam Dufault (Lexington, Mass.) split time in the net. Boucher took the loss as he saved six shots through the first half, while Dufault stopped 15 shots in the second half.
UNE held the advantage in shots (43-29), ground balls (49-38) and face-offs (18-5). Wentworth went 3-for-6 in man-up opportunities while UNE went 1-for-5.
Both Wentworth and UNE are in action on Saturday. Wentworth travels to Endicott at 12:00 p.m., while UNE returns home to face #17 Western New England at 4:00 p.m.
