MANSFIELD, Conn. – In a game that featured 13 ties and had "sudden-death overtime" written all over it practically from the opening faceoff, the Eastern Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team survived three potential game-winning shots by the University of Saint Joseph in the final minute and rode what proved to be junior Shane Haggerty's (Stamford) game-winning goal with 21.1 seconds left to post a snowy16-15 non-conference victory in its home-opener Wednesday afternoon at Rick McCarthy Field.
 
After Saint Joseph's (1-2) Ryan Paltauf (game-high five goals) scored the second of his two goals in the final two minutes of the third quarter to tie the game for the tenth time, the teams alternated goals the rest of the way before Haggerty's second goal of the match – first since the early minutes of the second half – off an assist from first-year Brycen Kennedy (Southington) gave Eastern (1-1) its first one-goal home win since a 14-13 Little East Conference overtime decision over Massachusetts Boston nearly two years ago.

 

With the score tied at 15 in the final minute, Saint Joseph took three shots at the Eastern net, one of which was blocked, the second of which sailed wide and the third of which was stopped on his knees by junior goalie Nick Collazo (Park Ridge, NJ). After a successful clear, it appeared that the Warriors had given the ball back to Saint Joseph, but maintained possession when the Blue Jays were called for a violation, and then called timeout with 34.7 seconds left.
 
Sophomore Zacharie Appolon (Stamford) began possession at the top right of the cage following the timeout, raced to his left while guarded by USJ's Nicholas Roman, and threw back up top to Kennedy. Kennedy relayed the ball to Haggerty stationed up top and to the right of the cage. With only one defender in front of the goal, Haggerty ripped a low, left-handed shot that found the bottom left of the net.
 
Eastern was dominated at the faceoff X throughout the first half – losing 12 of 16 attempts – but junior long-stick midfielder Domenic Scarano (Berlin) came on to to even the playing field in the second half. Scarano's eighth and biggest faceoff win (on 13 attempts) came on the key faceoff that followed Haggerty's go-ahead goal and preserved the hard-fought win. Facing USJ sophomore Samuel Barbetti (who had won 18 of 28 to that point in the game), Scarano cleanly won the draw, flipping it back into Eastern's defensive end and corralling it himself. Scarano and Kennedy shared the ball in running out the clock over the final 20 seconds.
 
One critical sequence in the game came after Paltauf's back-to-back goals tied the game for USJ (12-12) with 1:49 left in the third quarter and forced a timeout by Eastern, which was in danger of losing the momentum. Not only did Barbetti win the faceoff coming out of the timeout, the Blue Jays had a golden opportunity to take their first lead of the second half when Eastern found itself a man-down after being called for consecutive penalties on the same play. However, USJ could not capitalize when it turned the ball over, and after junior defender Ryan Stocks (Longmeadow, MA) ripped a shot wide, the Warriors maintained possession, and sophomore Zacharie Appolon's (Stamford) second goal of the game and season in man-down returned the momentum and lead to Eastern.
 
The starting attack trio of Kennedy, Tim Lichack (Clinton) and Quinn O'Connor (Glastonbury) – all in their first seasons in the program – combined for 11 of the team's goals, six of its 11 assists and 20 of its 37 shots. Kennedy had four goals and three assists, O'Connor four goals and two assists and Lichack three goals and an assist. Appolon finished with two goals and an assist, Haggerty two goals and junior Payten Nevins (Hamden) a goal and assist. The goals were the first in the careers of Kennedy and O'Connor (all of O'Connor's came in the second half), while first-year player Dan Barro (Newington) chipped in the first three assists (all in the second half) of his career.
 
Stocks matched Scarano with five ground balls.
 
In his third career appearance, Collazo was credited with his first win. First-year transfer Sam Davies (Newington) made 11 saves in the first half and now has a season save percentage of .667, and departed with the score tied at 7-all at halftime. Collazo made six saves over the final 30 minutes.
 
Scarano was 8-for-13 on faceoffs and first-year player Rick O'Neal (East Hartford) 3-for-5, while Barbetti claimed 18 of 29. Paltauf led the Blue Jays with five goals and three assists, taking 13 of his team's 51 shots. Junior goalie Trey McCann stopped ten Eastern shots.
 
USJ outshot Eastern by 14 and totaled 18 more ground balls, but committed six faceoff violations that accounted for nearly half of the Warriors wins at the faceoff X and committed seven more turnovers.
 
Eastern visits Skidmore College (3-1) Saturday at 2 p.m., the teams meeting for the first time in 20 years since the Warriors posted a 16-9 decision at the Drew University Invitational.  The Thoroughbreds have won their last three this year by a total of six goals after an opening 14-9 road loss to No. 16 nationally-ranked SUNY Cortland.