Box Score HENNIKER, N.H. – The New England College men's lacrosse team lost 29-7 to visiting UMass Boston in non-conference action on Wednesday afternoon at Don Melander Field in Henniker, New Hampshire.
THE BASICS
Score: UMass Boston 29, New England College 7
Records: Pilgrims 0-8, 0-0 NECC | Beacons 6-3, 1-0 LEC
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The opening minutes of the game saw the Beacons as the early aggressors as they peppered NEC sophomore goalie Connor Almstrom (Cumberland, R.I.) with a series of shots to open the game. The second year netminder was up to the challenge, however, and it would be the 'Grims breaking into the scoring column first as sophomore attacker Thomas Norton (Mansfield, Mass.) took it across himself and shot it past the goalie for his team-leading 13th goal of the season as NEC went ahead 1-0 just 1:33 into the game.
- Later with the game tied at one-all, the Pilgrims would take advantage of a Beacons' penalty as junior attacker Matt Daley (Plymouth, Mass.) found senior midfielder Devon Saeger (Chester Springs, Penn.) for his ninth goal of the season as NEC took a surprising 2-1 lead with 10:42 to go in the first quarter.
- Later trailing 4-2, NEC head coach Jedd Brown would call timeout and draw up a play that saw sophomore midfielder Cam Hebert (Plantation, Fla.) take it in himself for his first career goal to pull the Pilgrims to within one.
- But the Beacons would pull away down the stretch of the first, wrapping up the opening quarter with four unanswered goals to take an 8-3 lead into the first intermission. UMass Boston graduate midfielder Gavin Admirand (Marshfield, Mass.) had a hat trick in the first quarter alone with three goals.
- Down 21-3 late in the second, NEC refused to go quietly as Saeger scored his second goal of the game off an assist from Daley with 39 seconds remaining. UMB would lead 22-4 going into halftime and would not relinquish the lead in the second half.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Almstrom, the reigning five-time New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Defensive Player of the Week, tallied 15 saves between the pipes for the Pilgrims in just 24 minutes of action. NEC sophomore goalie Hunter Sutcliffe (Warwick, R.I.) came into the game in relief to finish with a career-high ten saves.
- UMass Boston senior goalie Trevor Koppy (Attleboro, Mass.) finished with two stops in 30 minutes for the Beacons.
- NEC freshman long-stick midfielder Jackson Kain (Plattsburgh, N.Y.), already a three-time NECC Rookie of the Week, finished with a team-high eight ground balls and four caused turnovers.
- UMass Boston junior midfielder Charlie Chapman (Sandwich, Mass.) came off the bench to score five goals with two assists for the Beacons. Other top scorers for UMass Boston were Admirand, graduate attacker Connor Smith (Oakland, Maine) and junior midfielder Jacob Banks (Westminster, Mass.) with four goals apiece. Admirand also dished out four assists.
- Norton and Sager each had two goals while Daley finished with one goal and two assists on the day for the Pilgrims.
UP NEXT
- NEC is back on the field on Saturday when they travel to Castleton University for a 3:00 p.m. game.
- UMass Boston is scheduled to host Salem State in their next game, that coming on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
