MANSFIELD, Conn. – The Plymouth State University men's lacrosse team spotted Eastern Connecticut an early four-goal lead, then roared back, outscoring the Warriors 11-3 in the second half en route to a 16-10 victory in a battle of early-season Little East Conference unbeatens.

The win is the fifth straight for Plymouth (7-4, 3-0 LEC), which has played all but one of its matches on the road this year. Eastern (5-7, 2-1 LEC) had beaten Plymouth 11 of the last 12 times the teams had met, including seven straight at home and also by a goal in last year's LEC semifinals.

The teams traded scoreless quarters in the game, Eastern shutting out Plymouth in the first and for the first 18:33 of action overall in rolling up a 4-0 lead. Trailing 7-5 at halftime, the Panthers came out roaring in the second half, holding Eastern to three shots in the third quarter and outscoring the Warriors 5-0 in the third  to carry a 10-7 lead into the final 15 minutes.

Plymouth tallied eight unanswered goals in the game: the final one of the first half, all five in the third quarter, and the first two of the fourth quarter to move out to a 12-7 lead with 11:38 left.

After striking for the first five goals of the match – getting goals from four different players – Eastern was never able to mount a consistent attack. The Warriors never scored as many as two in a row after the first quarter.

Senior attack Nicco Sorrentino, Plymouth's top scorer who missed all of last year, was held off the board in the first half (collecting one assist), but responded with two goals in the third quarter and two more in the fourth. His first goal tied the match in the third quarter and he later contributed strikes which padded the team's slim lead.

Sorrentino led both teams with four goals and an assist, senior attack Mac Tetreault adding three goals and an assist in Plymouth's offense which featured 11 different players chipping in either a goal or assist.

Plymouth's ability to stay out of the penalty box was instrumental. Plymouth was flagged only once – in the final minutes of the first half. The Panthers capitalized upon two of Eastern's four infractions, recording extra-man goals five minutes apart in the third quarter. The first man-up goal came with 7:58 left in the third by junior midfielder Cam Cormier and pushed the Panthers ahead for good, 8-7. Minutes later, Cormier found junior midfielder Galen Antolino for another extra-man goal that made it 10-7 with three minutes left in the third.

Plymouth outshot Eastern 42-27, owing in large part to the fact that it turned the ball over only eight times as compared to 20 for the hosts.

While Plymouth's top faceoff man entered play with a significant advantage over Eastern, Eastern senior faceoff midfielder Jesse Schulze (Croton-on-Hudson, NY) corralled 19 of 27 faceoffs for the Warriors. Freshman midfielder Anthony Choronzy (Clinton) picked up eight ground balls for Eastern, Schulze adding five.

Eastern junior attack Matthew Rougeot (Cheshire) led the Warriors with three goals, giving him 19 in the last five matches  after he managed only 11 through first seven.

Senior goalie Jayson LaRiviere stopped 11 shots in net for his sixth win in eight decisions, while junior Chris Gorman (Shrewsbury, MA) turned back 15 for the Warriors.

Eastern hosts Western Connecticut State University Wednesday at 4 p.m. in a Little East Conference match.