LAX Falls Short Against Nichols

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College men's lacrosse team closed out the regular season with a 9-2 loss to Nichols College on Tuesday afternoon at Alumni Field.

Devan Maher and Michael Bane each netted three goals for Nichols, which improved to 7-8 overall on the season. The Bison never trailed and scored the game's first seven goals en route to a dominant victory.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Mariners, who finished the season with an overall record of 5-7. Senior Adam Grillo and sophomore Demetre Lyras registered second half goals to account for Mitchell's scoring on the day.

Nichols scored four times in the opening quarter to quickly seize control. Steve Delahanty got things started less than three minutes in when he scored off an assist from Maher. Macaulay Gillis followed suit just 1:30 later, and Bane added a pair of scores 10 minutes apart that gave the Bison a 4-0 advantage.

Bane notched the hat trick early in the second quarter on an unassisted effort. Maher added his first goal of the day with 7:50 to play in the half as the Bison were with the man advantage, and Michael Busby closed out the first half scoring with a marker off a rebound with just under two minutes to go.

Mitchell registered 18 shots in the first half but put only four on goal, all of which were stopped by Scott Gray. Nichols was far more accurate on offense, placing 12 of its 15 shots on goal.

The Mariners finally got on the scoreboard in the opening minutes of the second half when Grillo netted his team-leading 22nd goal on a feed from freshman Ben Carr. Grillo finished his Mitchell career as the school's all-time leading scorer with 103 goals and 35 assists for 138 points.

Maher scored with 5:47 remaining in the third quarter and added his final tally with 11:45 to go in the fourth. Lyras later scored with 10:35 remaining to record the final goal of the game.

Gray finished with eight saves against 33 shots and played all 60 minutes. Sophomore Peter Eshenfelder finished with nine saves against 30 shots.

Prior to the game, the Mariners honored Grillo and fellow seniors Josh Charles and Thomas Stengren in a special ceremony. Charles is a co-captain and three-year letterwinner while Thomas is a four-year member of the squad.