Regis Edges Men's LAX on Senior Day

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Regis College claimed the New England Collegiate Conference regular season title in men's lacrosse on Saturday afternoon with a 10-8 victory over Mitchell College at Alumni Field.

The Pride improved to 11-4 overall and earned the top seed in the upcoming NECC Championship by virtue of their 4-0 conference record. The Mariners (5-7 overall) will be the second seed after finishing the regular season with a 3-1 mark in league play.

Andrew O'Reilly, AJ Karofsky and Alex Ferran scored two goals apiece to lead Regis. O'Reilly also added three assists to finish with a game-high five points, and Nicky Rodrigo contributed a goal and two assists.

Owen LaPorte and Jacob Setzko each tallied three goals to pace Mitchell. Aaron Sladyk chipped in with a goal and two assists while Dan DiGioia handed out three helpers.

Sladyk gave the Mariners their only lead of the day with a score six minutes into the contest. The Pride answered back 47 seconds later as Ferran potted his first to even the score. Regis took the lead on O'Reilly's goal with 6:34 remaining in the period and went up 3-1 on a tally by Calvin Brault to end the first-quarter scoring.

After a goal by LaPorte pulled Mitchell back to within one in the early minutes of the second period, Regis took its biggest lead of the half following back-to-back scores by Karofsky and Collin Spillane. Karofsky's goal came with a flag down on the field, resulting in a man advantage for the Pride. On the ensuing possession, Spillane cashed in just 46 seconds later to put Regis up 5-2 with 10:03 to play before halftime.

Setzko got the Mariners back into the game with three goals in the final 8:48 of the half. The first came on a clearing pass from goalie JD LeMay in which Setzko caught the ball and fired from long distance. He then finished off a feed from Sladyk to bring Mitchell back to within one, and he later tied the game at 5-5 with an unassisted effort with 2:48 to go.

Regis struck first in the second half as O'Reilly scored on a pass from Rodrigo, but Mitchell fired back as LaPorte buried a shot off an assist by DiGioia. Rodrigo and LaPorte then traded goals to make the score 7-7 late in the third quarter, though the Pride pulled ahead at the end of the stanza courtesy of a man-up goal by Karofsky.

Danny Rancano opened the fourth-quarter scoring to bump the lead to 9-7, and the Regis defense protected the margin for the rest of the game. Goalie D.J. Barrile made seven of his 16 saves in the final quarter as the Pride stifled the Mitchell offense. Ferran's second goal padded the lead to 10-7 with 3:15 to play and cemented the victory.

Regis midfielder Jack O'Brien won 16 of 22 face-offs and scooped up a game-high six ground balls. The Pride held a 39-33 edge in the category and committed only two penalties in the contest.

LeMay finished with 14 saves against 40 shots and also added four ground balls. Brian Jordan picked up four ground balls and caused three turnovers.  

Prior to the game the Mariners honored seven seniors -- DiGioia, Sladyk, Maximilian Crowley, Spencer Daniel, Loren Thomas, Alex Brown and Will Ryan-Johnson -- in a special ceremony.

As the two highest seeds, both Regis and Mitchell will host semifinals games in the NECC Championship on Wednesday, April 27. The Mariners will host third-seeded Becker College at 3 p.m. while the Pride will host fourth-seeded Daniel Webster College at 4 p.m. The highest remaining seed will host the title game on Saturday, April 30.