LAX Has Winning Streak Snapped at Mass. Maritime

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. --  The Mitchell College men's lacrosse team closed out the regular season with a disappointing 14-8 loss at Massachusetts Maritime on Monday night at Clean Harbors Stadium.

The loss snapped a six-game winning streak and put the Mariners record at 9-3 on the season. Mitchell must now wait to see if it has earned a berth in the 2013 ECAC Division III New England Championship. The ECAC will announce the field for the eight-team championship on Monday, May 6.

Dylan Freudenberg and Drew Prowse combined for seven goals and five assists to back a 20-save effort in net from Paul Painten for Massachusetts Maritime. Mitchell junior David Klapp finished with three goals and two assists while classmate Shane Sullivan added a pair of scores.
 
The host Buccaneers (4-8 overall) overcame an early 3-1 deficit by scoring the final four goals of the opening quarter, including a pair off the stick of Freudenberg, to take a 5-3 advantage after 15 minutes of play. Massachusetts Maritime extended that margin to 8-3 in the opening 8:13 of the second stanza to cap a seven-goal run with man-up markers off the sticks of John Hojnoski and C.J. Hanson. Klapp ended the run with a tally for the Mariners with 2:30 remaining in the half for an 8-4 Buccaneer lead at the break. 

The hosts scored the only three goals of the third quarter, including a man-up marker from Anthony Kurylak, to take their largest lead of the night at 12-4 heading into the final 15 minutes of play. Prowse collected man-up and man-down goals in the final frame to offset a four-goal Mitchell outburst in a nine-plus minute span to account for the final score.
 
Freudenberg led the way with four goals and an assist in the triumph for Massachusetts Maritime, which received a hat trick and four helpers from Prowse on the evening. Hojnoski also chipped in with a hat trick for the winners, who received a pair of markers and an assist from Hanson as well as two tallies from Kurylak. Jake Lennon and Fernando Harrington added single assists for the Buccaneers, who collected their second straight victory.
 
Sophomore Jordan Cook and juniors Demetre Lyras and Chris Joy also tallied for the Mariners. Lyras went 13-for-16 in face-offs and picked up six ground balls while Joy grabbed a game-high eight ground balls. 
 
Painten made 12 of his stops in the second half in posting the victory for Massachusetts Maritime, while junior Peter Eshenfelder made 13 saves in the setback for Mitchell. The Buccaneers outshot the Mariners by a 46-37 margin for the match and converted 4-of-8 man-up opportunities while holding the visitors to just a 1-for-13 mark in that same category.