Posted: Apr 25, 2018
LAX Knocked Off in Final Seconds at Becker
Mitchell
(0-13)
12
Becker
(3-12)
13
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mitchell (0-13) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
|
Becker (3-12) | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
LEICESTER, Mass. -- The Becker College men's lacrosse team won 13-12 over visiting Mitchell College on Wednesday evening in the semifinals of the New England Collegiate Conference Championship at Alumni Field.
The Hawks (3-12) advance to the NECC Championship finals against Dean College on Saturday while the Mariners (0-13 overall) saw their season come to a conclusion.
The Mariners jumped out in front with a quick goal out of the gate from Jade Shields just 1:51 into the game off an assist by Kevin Flores.
Just 1:23 later Becker scored the equalizer when Nicholas Mariano found Matthew Guerin for a goal. It would be the first of three Hawks goals, as Avyay Chaganty and Jack Schneider both found the back of the net as the Hawks went ahead 3-1 with 8:21 to go in the first.
From there, however, the Mariners offense exploded with five straight goals; two of those coming from Shields, two from Jesse McKeever and one from Kyle Marsh. Mitchell went ahead 6-3 with 12:44 to go in the first half.
Chaganty, playing in the final home game of his career, scored just over a minute later, followed by a score at 10:55 by Cruz Desrochers. Schneider and Guerin finished off the scoring spree, as Becker surged ahead with a 7-6 advantage with 9:41 to go.
The Mariners rallied back before the break. Shields scored his 12th goal of the season with 3:56 to go to tie it up again, while McKeever closed out the first half with his third goal of the game and the 13th of his season. Mitchell led 8-7 going into halftime.
In the second half, Chaganty tied it again when he scored his third goal of the day and 12th of the season with 12:43 to go in the third. Blake Gordon then put the Hawks ahead with his 10th tally of the year with 9:32 remaining.
Mitchell knotted it at 9-9 when Jack Dalton netted his seventh goal of the season off an assist by McKeever. Becker went ahead again off a goal from Schneider with 5:45 to go in the third, but the visitors closed out the quarter with another score from Dalton with 2:58 remaining. The two teams went into the final quarter tied at 10-10.
In the fourth, Mariano gave the Hawks the lead with 10:17 to go, assisted by Corey Bebeau. Looking for the insurance goal, Bebeau chose the best moment to score his first goal of the season with 7:31 remaining in the game, putting Becker ahead 12-10.
Mitchell refused to go down quietly. McKeever pulled the Mariners to within one on a goal with 3:21 to go. Then, with 2:48 remaining, Flores' fourth goal tied it and the game appeared destined for overtime.
Finally, with 10 seconds left, Gordon took a long shot from 10 yards out and found pay dirt for his 11th goal of the season, as the Becker bench exploded. A desperation shot by Mitchell with two ticks left went wide and the Hawks celebrated.
Becker goalkeeper Trey McMillen finished with 12 saves while Mitchell goalie Marcel Quinlan tallied 20 stops.