The UMass Boston men’s lacrosse team came back from a deficit of three goals in the final quarter to defeat the Panthers of Plymouth State College in a quarterfinals match of the Little East Conference tournament on Tuesday, April 29 at the Clark Athletic Center. Senior Josh Stolp led the way with 5 goals and two assists while fellow attackers Mike Forns and Ryan O’Rourke each contributed with four points apiece.
The two teams came out even 4-4 after one quarter of play. The Panthers scored the first two goals of the second quarter before the Beacons took over the rest of the half. Sophomore Trevor Craven started the second quarter Beacon scoring by bullying his way through several PSC defenders and beating the goalie Michael Roderick after collecting a rebound off his initial shot.
A few minutes later, Stolp finished off a rush with goal when he cut unhindered to the front of the PSC net and received a beautiful pass from a moving O’Rourke. The Beacons took the lead on a man-advantage when Forns, who was behind the net, found an open John Iodice in front for the goal to give the team the lead.
As well as things went for the Beacons in the latter half of the second quarter, things went as badly overall in the third period. The Panthers scored five goals while only surrendering one to the Beacons. PSC stifled UMB over and over. The score at the end of the third period could have been worse if not for some stellar saves by Nick Eaton (11 saves total).
The teams traded goals at the start of the fourth period before the Beacons took final control. Stolp scored his first of three goals in the period. After a bit of scoreless drought by both teams, Forns scored his second goal of the game and then Stolp tied it up as he took a terrific pounding by Panther defenders as he made his way to Roderick and beat the goalie on the low left side. O’Rourke gave the Beacons the lead for good and Stolp finished off the scoring with 3:32 left in the match. The Beacons’ defense held firm for the rest of the game.
The team saw little go their way in the LEC semi-finals match against top seeded Eastern Connecticut State as the Warriors won going away 19-4. Stolp did score three goals to set the all-time UMB goal scoring record in the match, passing former record holder Jamie Mulroney. Stolp finished his career with 190 goals. ECS eventually won the LEC tournament with a 18-9 victory over second seed Keene State.