Endicott to vie for CCC title after 15-6 win over UNE in semifinals

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's lacrosse team will make their 10^th appearance in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) championship game since the 2001 season after the Gulls handed the University of New England a 15-6 loss in the conference semifinals on Wednesday evening at Endicott Stadium.

The #1 seed Endicott (13-5) will face off against the #2 seed Western New England (10-6) with the CCC trophy on the line for the fourth time in the past six seasons.  The Golden Bears have won two out of the previous three meetings including back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009 while Endicott claimed victory in their most recent showdown in 2011, a 13-12 overtime victory in Springfield.  The game will be played on Saturday, May 4^th at 1:00 pm at Endicott Stadium. 

The Gulls exacted some revenge on the Nor'easters in Wednesday's CCC Semifinal after UNE defeated Endicott 10-9 back on April 16^th up in Biddeford, Maine.  Endicott sophomore attacker Joshua Tordik (Sayville, N.Y.) set a career-high with eight points on a hat trick and five assists to fuel the Gulls offense.  Two of Tordik's assists went to fellow sophomore Harrison Cotter (Lordship, Conn.) who recorded his second straight game with three goals while adding an assist. 

Endicott also benefited from consistent possession in the game, getting an efficient 24-of-25 effort on face-offs from midfielder Sam Ozycz (Cheshire, Conn.) who controlled 18 groundballs.  As a team, Endicott had a 47-34 groundball advantage as senior Peter Erickson (Yarmouth, Maine) and sophomore Nick Pinciaro (Beverly, Mass.) also assisted with five and four groundballs, respectively.  Erickson and Pinciaro were also factors offensively as Erickson scored twice while Pinciaro added three points (goal, two assists) to raise his team-high total to 49. 

Endicott held a slim 3-2 advantage after the first quarter with the first of two goals for senior attacker Connor McCormack's (Norwalk, Conn.) being the different.  The Gulls held UNE scoreless in the second quarter and put two on the board on an unassisted goal by Tordik and the first of two goals from sophomore attacker Scott McCormack (Norwalk, Conn.). 

In the second half, the Blue and Green went up 7-3 after Cotter's second goal of the game but UNE cut the lead down to three as sophomore defenseman Andrew Kelley's (Sudbury, Mass.) first goal of the season beat the goalie in transition.  Endicott rebounded, however, to score five unanswered including two within six seconds of each other at the 2:51 and 2:45 marks of the third quarter as Ozycz won a face-off and raced down the middle of the field for his eighth goal of the season.  The Gulls wrapped up the game in the fourth quarter, outscoring UNE 5-2 to earn the 15-6 victory.

UNE junior Pat Wolfe (Phippsburg, Maine) paced the Nor'easters attack with two man-up goals while senior Tyler Thomas (Mount Pleasant, N.Y.) assisted on three goals, including both of Wolfe's tallies.  Thomas also assisted on Shamus Higginbottom (New Milford, Conn.) goal in the fourth quarter. 

The Endicott attack attempted 51 shots, 28 of which were on net.  UNE goalie John Dusel (Wilbraham, Mass.) made 13 saves between the pipes but suffered his first loss of the season (4-1).  His counterpart, the CCC's Rookie of the Year Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) made four saves in goal as he faced just 10 shots, but improved to 12-4 on the year. 

Three of Endicott's long-stickmen caused turnovers in seniors Kyle Burke (Haverhill, Mass.) and Ryan Sutherland (Sudbury, Mass.) and junior Lucas Paratore (Wenham, Mass.).  Nor'easters Nick McMahon (Westfield, Mass.) and Stephen Hughes (Flemington, N.J.) had two caused turnovers each in the loss.

The Gulls racked up four minutes of penalty time in the game and UNE scored two man-up goals on six opportunities.  Endicott was held scoreless on two extra-man situations.  Endicott was 18-of-19 on clear attempts while UNE was 20-of-28.