Big first half sparks Endicott’s 20-9 win over Nichols on Senior Day

BEVERLY, Mass. – Fourteen goals in the first half by the Endicott men's lacrosse helped the Gulls to their 11^th win of the season and the sixth in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play, as the Blue and Green won 20-9 over Nichols on Sunday afternoon at Endicott Stadium.  Endicott is now 11-5 (6-1 CCC) as the Gulls were led by 14 different goal-scorers including a three apiece for both sophomore Nick Pinciaro (Beverly, Mass.) and junior Mark Cornacchio (Westford, Mass.).

On Wednesday, April 24^th, Endicott will play their final regular season and conference game of their schedule when they visit Western New England with an opportunity to take over first place in the CCC standings with a win.  Game time is 7:00 pm in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Nichols dropped to 4-10 (1-6 CCC) on the season despite a pair of four-point games from senior attacker Macaulay Gillis (Northborough, Mass.) and sophomore midfielder Michael Bane (North Grafton, Mass.).  Gillis netted a hat trick and added an assist while Bane scored twice and assisted on two more goals.  The Bison will wrap up their regular season on Wednesday, April 24^th with a home game against Gordon. 

Endicott took time prior to the start of the game to honor eight seniors who have had a lasting impact on the men's lacrosse program.  Defensemen Anthony Martignetti (Winchester, Mass.) and Ryan Sutherland (Sudbury, Mass.), midfielders Kyle Burke (Haverhill, Mass.), Tom Burke (Sudbury, Mass.), Peter Erickson (Yarmouth, Maine), Eric Kaminsky (Manhasset, N.Y.), and Nick Togneri (Longmeadow, Mass.), as well as attacker Connor McCormack (Norwalk, Conn.) were all recognized along with their families.  Over the past four years, these seniors led Endicott to a 51-27 (28-5 CCC) record, two CCC Championships, two NCAA Tournament berths, two NCAA Tournament Second Round appearances, and an ECAC Championship.

Erickson led the seniors with two goals with Tom Burke, Connor McCormack, Togneri also finding the back of the net.  Kyle Burke, Martignetti, and Sutherland all caused turnovers while Kaminsky scooped two groundballs in the game. 

Gulls sophomore attacker Kyle Weber (West Hartford, Conn.) increased his team lead to 31 goals on the season with two against the Bison on Sunday while dishing out two assists.  Sophomore Scott McCormack (Norwalk, Conn.) saw his season point total jump to 19 with a goal and two assists.  Both Jonathan Morgan (Ridge, N.Y.) and Joshua Tordik (Sayville, N.Y.) had two assists in the win. 

In net for Endicott, freshman Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) improved to 10-4 on the year by allowing just two goals and making four saves in first half action.  Junior Nick Triano (North Andover, Mass.) made three saves and freshman Max Rennillo (Shaker Heights, Ohio) stopped one Nichols shot on goal, both in relief roles. 

For Nichols, freshman goalie Seth Drouin (Madison, Conn.) was peppered with shots all game, but was able to make 16 saves between the pipes.  Drouin also had a team-high five groundballs.

Endicott's Sam Ozycz (Cheshire, Conn.) had a game-high 15 groundballs as the graduate student went 19-of-24 on face-offs while scoring Endicott's first goal of the game. 

There were 17 penalties in the game which led to a 4-of-10 performance on man-up opportunities for Endicott and a 3-of-7 total for Nichols.  Endicott held a 57-24 advantage on groundballs while successfully clearing the ball out of their defensive zone 15-of-19 times.  The Bison were 13-of-19 on clear attempts.