Whether or not you’re a lacrosse fan, if you attended last Saturday’s game between the UMass Beacons and the Wentworth Leopards at home, you’re a fan now. This game was so intense that you would have spent the entire game yelling at the top of your lungs and sitting on the edge of your seat, wanting to grab a stick yourself and jump onto the field.
The first period brought about a sense of nearly evenly matched teams waiting to explode upon each other. Beacon goalie Dan O’Neill (#2) made some amazing saves during the first quarter, especially when he fended off a rocketing shot from the end of a Wentworth long defensive stick. Despite O’Neill’s great performance in the first, however, Wentworth was able to break through at 8:34, scoring the first goal of the game and taking the lead.
Even though Wentworth came out on top after the first quarter, it did appear that UMass was dominating the game by having control of the ball in Wentworth’s zone for a majority of the period. Freshman Andrew Rowley (#14) at one point in the period fired several consecutive shots at Wentworth’s goal, coming up just a bit wide each time, but nevertheless showing the power of the Beacon offense.
Despite the strong first quarter for the Beacons, the second quarter was an entirely different scenario. Wentworth opened the period with a goal 15 seconds after the face off and then, less than two minutes later, fired another shot into the Beacon net, making the score 3-0. The Beacons did answer one of these goals when sophomore Jeff Flanagan (#12), assisted by Mac Burns (#10), scored on a hard overhand shot, bringing the Wentworth lead down to two. This quick comeback by the Beacons would be stomped out before the period’s end, however, when Wentworth scored with less than five seconds left in the quarter.
Although I didn’t have a chance to ask coach Myles Berry what he said to the team during the ten-minute halftime, the Sox might want to hire him for the postseason.
The Beacons came out roaring with a huge goal scored by Jon Marino (#6), assisted by Christopher Hanafin (#8), 13 seconds into the start of the period. O’Neill then came up big with some saves during a one-and-a-half-minute power play, after a slashing and technical call on Mike Parker of the Beacons. With 3:21 left in the quarter, Jason Mohre (#30) and Hanafin made some great passes to each other in front of the net and Mohre powered a shot right past Wentworth’s goaltender to bring the B’s within one. The team’s offense showed that even if Hanafin, who is the team’s leading scorer, was being heavily guarded by Wentworth, the shots would still come hailing from the other offensive powers on the team.
As the clock wore down to the last seconds in the quarter, the fans in the stands were back in the game and ready for their team to come back in the fourth quarter. However, the Beacons had other plans and on an unassisted play Hanafin launched the tying goal into Wentworth’s net.
The final 15 minutes opened with an awe-inspiring play by the Beacons. Just 30 seconds into the fourth, Hanafin made an amazing pass to Marino who took the ball to the net and scored, putting the Beacons up for the first time in the game. Exactly 29 seconds after that score by Marino, Mohre came up with his second score of the game, assisted by Hanafin, putting the Beacons up by two. Mohre’s goal was also the team’s fifth unanswered goal since the last period.
Wentworth didn’t roll over after this UMB surge and instead answered Mohre’s goal with one of their own a minute later. Putting out the Beacon’s fire, Wentworth scored another goal to tie things up and then scored two more shots, taking their lead back to two points. When it seemed as if things for the Beacons could not get worse, Wentworth scored its fifth unanswered goal of the fourth quarter, bringing their lead to three.
The resilience of the Beacon’s midfield would not succumb to a five-point run by Wentworth. Coming back off of defense, Rowley, assisted by Burns, scored with less than four minutes left to bring the B’s within two. With time on the clock disappearing at a pace too rapid for any Beacon’s fan, Hanafin broke through Wentworth’s defense and with 1:15 left on the clock scored to bring the team within one.
Unfortunately, UMass was not able to get another shot in the net and ended up with a 9-8 loss. This game was indeed a battle and though the team came up with a loss, the strength of the Beacon offense was a sign of the team coming together. Any assumption that the team had a reliance on one big scorer was vanquished with five players scoring nine goals and no player scoring more than two. Interesting enough, the team’s top goal scorer ended the game with four assists, showing the teams versatility.
Come join the team for all the action this week as the Beacons battle against Emerson College on Thursday, April 16 at 3:00 p.m. and Plymouth State College at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 18 at home.