Box Score MANSFIELD, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team amassed a 13-goal lead after three quarters and eased to a 16-6 victory over the University of Southern Maine in winning its Little East Conference opener for the 15th straight season Saturday afternoon at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.
Ten different players contributed a goal or assist for Eastern (3-4, 1-0 LEC), which improved to 2-0 this year at home and defeated Southern Maine (3-2, 0-1 LEC) for the 14th straight time in this series.
Eastern scored the first six goals of the match and took a 14-1 lead into the final quarter. USM sophomore scoring leader Seth Wing scored all three of his goals in the final eight minutes and sophomore assist leader Keegan Smith was limited to one assist, that coming on Wing's third strike of the game – 17th of the season – with 5:27 left.
Although Eastern outshot the Huskies, 49-28, the visitors put 21 of their shots on net, scoring six and forcing Eastern junior goalies Blake Smaldone (Hamilton, MA) and Brendan Gillotti (Danbury) to combine on 15 saves. Smaldone evened his record at 3-3 by making 12 saves and giving up only one goal through the first three quarters.
Sophomore attack Shawn Tierney (Norwell, MA) entered play with two goals in four matches but led both teams with four goals on five shots, with senior attack Chris Barnett (Wilton) adding three goals and three assists and junior attack Tim Reilly (Hanover, MA) chipping in two goals and four assists. Sophomore midfielder Matt Ikawa (Hampton, NH) recorded his first goal of the season by potting an unassisted marker five minutes into the final quarter.
At left: Junior Michael Dellanno's (28) second goal of the match early in the third quarter boosted the Warriors' lead to 9-1 en route to a 16-6 Little East victory over Southern Maine Saturday at Mansfield. (Photo by Neomi Nieves)
Eastern's defense killed off all four of Southern Maine's extra-man bids and forced the visitors into twice as many turnovers (24 to 12), with USM managing to clear only 57.1 percent of its tries. Senior midfielder Steven Nixon (Foxborough, MA) caused three turnovers and picked up six ground balls for Eastern.
Sophomore midfielder Ryan Saul won 12 of 21 faceoffs for USM and junior midfielder Jaymz McStowe won all five of his attempts. Junior midfielder Eddie Barrasso claimed a game-high 11 rebound balls.
The conference win was the first for first-year head coach Brian Tilley.
Eastern returns to conference action Saturday, hosting Massachusetts Boston at 2 p.m.
