LAX Sinks Regis with Big Fourth Quarter

WESTON, Mass. – Tied 6-6 after the third quarter, Mitchell College scored eight times in the final quarter en route to a 14-6 victory over Regis College on Saturday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men's lacrosse action.

Regis fell to 2-5 overall on the season and 0-2 in the NECC while Mitchell improved to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the league.

Mitchell was led by an eight-point day from junior Shane Sullivan, who had five goals and three assists. Junior Demetre Lyras added four goals and classmate David Klapp had a pair of goals to go with an assist. Chris Joy grabbed a team-high five groundballs, with Lyras adding four of his own. Joy also led the Mariners defense with a game-high four caused-turnovers.

Sullivan opened the scoring for the Mariners in the first quarter as he used a nifty pass fake to throw off his defender and then beat the Regis keeper 1-on-1 to give Mitchell an early 1-0 lead. Lyras added a goal 1:47 later as he ripped a shot top shelf to put Mitchell on top by two. Sullivan rounded out the scoring for Mitchell in the period as he corralled a tipped pass by Regis' Morgan Ford and beat his defender down the right side for an open shot that gave the Mariners a 3-0 lead after one quarter of play.

The Pride responded with a pair of man-up goals in the second quarter to make it a one-goal game headed into the break. Peter Leighton found a cutting Chris Campbell through the middle of the defense and the junior buried the shot for the Pride's first tally. Nicky Rodrigo scored the second goal of the period when he took a skip pass from Andrew O'Reilly and blasted a shot top shelf to make it a 3-2 game.

Mitchell sophomore Jordan Cook scored the first goal of the second half with a snipe shot from 10 yards out to put Mitchell back on top by two goals. Later in the period, Stephan Bottex streaked down the field on a clear attempt that led to a fastbreak chance for the Pride. Bottex found Rodrigo with a lead pass and the rookie found Peter Leighton in front of an open net to make it a 4-3 game. On the next Regis possession, Leighton hit Campbell with a quick pass and the junior buried a shot from 20 yards out to knot the game at 4-4.

Rodrigo capped off a 3-0 run for the Pride and gave Regis its first lead of the day as he took a pass from Billy Stewart on the fastbreak and hit a low shot to make it a 5-4 game. 

Sullivan answered on the other end with his third goal of the day on a pass from freshman Aaron Sladyk to tie the score at 5-5. Leighton and Campbell hooked up for another goal as Campbell jumped through the air to receive a high pass from Leighton and all in one motion buried the go-ahead goal for the Pride. Sullivan and Sladyk combined for another goal nearly 30 seconds later to tie it at 6-6 headed into the fourth quarter.

The final period was all Mitchell as the Mariners scored a mere 56 seconds into the final frame on a tally by junior David Klapp. The Mariners added on seven more goals in the quarter, including three from Lyras and single scores from Joy, Sladyk and Sullivan.

Mitchell outshot the Pride at a 44-28 clip and also won the groundball battle by a 26-23 margin. Both teams were effective on clear attempts as Regis went 16-for-20 and the Mariners went 17-for-19. Mitchell won 12 of the 23 faceoffs on the day as well, including an 8-for-9 effort by Lyras.

Campbell led the Pride attack with three goals while Rodrigo added two scores and an assist for a three-point day. Leighton scored a goal and handed out three assists on the day. Andrew Goldberg scooped up a team-high five groundballs, with Rodrigo and O'Reilly adding three groundballs each. Bottex and Dan Hammond had three caused-turnovers apiece.

Morgan Ford suffered the setback in net for the Pride, making 11 saves on the day. Mitchell junior Peter Eshenfelder picked up his fifth win of the season by making 11 saves as well.

Mitchell will next host SUNY Cobleskill on Wednesday, March 27 at 7 p.m. at New London High School.