Box Score Henniker, N.H. New England College men's lacrosse capture their third North Atlantic Conference (NAC) championship in five years beating the visiting Castleton University Spartans 17-11 Friday evening in Henniker.

With the win the Pilgrims improve to 13-6 on the season and have earned a berth into the NCAA DIII Men's Lacrosse championship.

The loss drops the Spartans to 12-7 on the season.

PILGRIM LEADERS

Sean Largay led all scorers finishing the game with five goals and three assists, while NAC Player of the Year Matt Richard finished with three goals and two assists. Skyler Saunders notched six points scoring twice and dishing out four assists, while Jarred Sausville netted three goals and William Pendleton scored two goals and had an assist.

NAC Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year Connor Fries finished with four ground balls and two caused turnovers.

SPARTAN LEADERS

Castleton's Kyle Lutinski led the scoring for the Spartans finishing with four goals, while Louis Alhage dished out a game-high six assists. Both Tom Pardew and Ryan Stone notched two goals and had an assist.

Joshua Gosselin was impressive in the face-off circle winning 18-of-23 and scooping up a game-high eight ground balls.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Pilgrims would net the first two goals of the contest and then use a 5-2 run building a 7-1 lead midway through the second quarter. The Spartans would respond with two goals by Taylor Swarter right before halftime cutting the lead to 7-3.

Castleton would outscore the Pilgrims 3-1 early in the third as the Spartans would get within two goals trailing just 8-6 early. NEC would respond with four straight goals and pull ahead 13-8 in the fourth. The teams would exchange goals throughout the fourth as NEC would get the final tally at the 2:01 mark giving the Pilgrims the eventual 17-11 victory.

Castleton led almost every offensive statistic including shots 40-39, ground balls 30-22 and face-offs winning 22-of-30.

Both teams took advantage of extra-man opportunities as Castleton finished 4-of-7 and NEC finished 3-of-6 man-up.

GOALTENDING

Picking up the win in net for NEC was William Platt who finished the game with 11 saves.

Splitting time in net for Castleton was Peter Latulippe and Romello Lindsey. Latulippe did not have a save, while Romello stopped five Pilgrim shots.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Sean Largay, New England College - Most Valuable Player
Skyler Saunders, New England College
Matt Richard, New England College
Connor Fries, New England College
Joshua Gosselin, Castleton University
Tom Pardew, Castleton University
Taylor Swarter, Castleton University
Shea Jones, Lyndon State College
Marshal Blackman, Lyndon State College
Brandon Corbo, Husson University
Chad Merrill Husson University