LAX Rallies Late but Falls Short at Anna Maria

PAXTON, Mass. -- The Mitchell College men's lacrosse team came up just short at Anna Maria College on Wednesday afternoon, falling by a 15-14 final in non-conference action at AMCAT Field.

Trailing by four with 8:30 remaining in the contest, the Mariners reeled off four straight goals to tie the game with 2:26 to play. However, Anna Maria's Brandon Pavoni netted the game's final goal with 46 ticks left on the clock to secure the win.

Kyle Marsh and Jade Shields each tallied four goals to lead the Mitchell offense. Newcomers Brandon Snyder, Jacob Anderson and Ethan LePain added two scores apiece

Anna Maria improved to 2-2 on the season while Mitchell dropped to 0-2.

The Mariners struck first in a very evenly played first quarter between the two teams. The first goal came just under two minutes in when Shields put one home off of a crisp pass from Snyder to go up 1-0. The AMCATS quickly responded with their own on a Ryan Morley score from Nick Massaro.

The teams continued trading goals until the last four minutes of the quarter when Anna Maria scored three consecutive goals to go up 5-3. Morley had three goals alone in the first, with Shields from Mitchell recording two.

Morley potted his fourth of the day to start the second-quarter scoring. Down by three, Mitchell responded with goals from Snyder and Marsh to make it a one-point contest going into the half at 6-5.

Anna Maria outscored Mitchell 7-3 in a high-scoring third quarter. The 'CATS were able to build a five-goal cushion with Ryan Rockwal and Pavoni both connecting for two in the period. 

Mitchell did not shy away after being down five going into the fourth. Marsh helped his team go on the four-goal run with the final two goals of the spurt. The tying goal came with a man advantage and tied the score at 14-14.  

After a good save by goalie Marcel Quinlan, Mitchell made a costly turnover on a clear attempt that ended up in Pavoni's stick. Pavoni eluded a couple of defenders and beat the tender low and to the right to get the final and go-ahead goal with under a minute left.

Quinlan had a 20-save day in net while Gage Garcia made nine stops for Anna Maria.

Mitchell will next play at Sage College on Monday, March 4 at 2 p.m.