MANSFIELD, Conn. – Momentum. That was the name of the game for Eastern Connecticut State University Men's Lacrosse in their Little East Conference matchup with Plymouth State University on Saturday afternoon at Rick McCarthy Field. Trailing for most of the first three quarters, the Warriors (4-6, 2-2 LEC) used sophomore midfielder Ben Duquene's (Stamford) first collegiate goal at the end of the third frame, four consecutive goals from first-year attack Brycen Kennedy (Southington), and five total unanswered goals to take their first lead of the game and never look back against the Panthers (3-8, 0-3 LEC) to earn a 16-13 win at home.
 
Wasting no time getting on the board, senior attack Riley Roy got Plymouth State in front less than two minutes into the first with his 11^th goal of the season. Less than four minutes later, first-year attack Quinn O'Connor (Glastonbury) responded for Eastern to knot the game up at one with 9:55 left in the opening frame.
 
That would be the last time the Warriors would tie the game up until the fourth quarter as the Panthers proceeded to score the next three goals of the first with sophomore attack Crosby Fay netting his 22^nd and 23^rd goals of the season before first-year attack Matt Miner added his 17^th goal of the year to make it 4-1.
 

O'Connor and Kennedy would mount a response to the Plymouth State offense with a goal each for Eastern to bring them back to within one at the end of the first quarter, 4-3. But it would be Fay again for the Panthers who put two shots into the back of the net behind first-year goalie Sam Davies (Newington) in a span of 22 seconds during the second, allowing the visitors to regain control with a 6-3 edge.
 
Recording his first of three goals on the day, midfielder Zacharie Appolon (Stamford) netted his seventh goal of the year and Kennedy added his second of the game with 4:47 remaining in the first half to bring the Warriors within one again. Still trailing by one with 10 seconds remaining, Davies came up with a big save against junior attack Mike Fleury who looked to put Plymouth State ahead by two going into the break.
 
Streaking into the offensive zone, Fleury fired on the first-year goal who got down into the splits and stopped the ball with his stick to preserve the one goal deficit, 7-6, heading into halftime. As a team, Eastern was outshot 17-12 (12-8 on goal) while turning over the ball 15 times compared to the Panthers' 13 turnovers and winning six face offs to Plymouth State's nine.
 
An evenly matched third quarter brought about two goals for each team, but none bigger than Duquene's first collegiate goal with four seconds left in the quarter to bring the Warriors within one again, 9-8. On the play, sophomore defenseman Marc Hirshom committed an illegal body check which warranted a two-minute penalty in which Hirshom had to serve in its entirety and a man up advantage for Eastern which carried into the final quarter.
 
Taking full advantage of the penalty, Kennedy scored three goals over the opening 1:48 of the fourth, giving the Warriors their first lead of the game. Kennedy would add another after the penalty expired, capping off a stretch in which Eastern scored five unanswered goals to make it 12-9 and four consecutive goals for the first-year attack.
 
After junior midfielder Karl Flinter ended the scoring run with a goal for the Panthers, Appolon, junior midfielder Shane Haggerty (Stamford), and O'Connor put the Warriors on another scoring run with three consecutive goals to make it 15-10 with 6:50 which seemingly put the game out of reach.
 
Three goals from sophomore midfielder Nolan Burke, Miner, and Fluery in a span of 1:34 suddenly brought Plymouth State back within two, 15-13, with still four minutes left in regulation. However, two saves by Davies and goal on the empty net by Appolon helped Eastern stave off the late rally by the Panthers to close out their fourth win of the season with a 16-13 victory.
 
As a team, the Warriors picked up 39 groundballs, won 14-of-31 faceoffs in the game, and scored five goals with a man advantage. Eastern outscored Plymouth State 10-6 in the second half, including 8-4 in the fourth quarter, proving to be the difference maker.
 
The trio of Zacharie Appolon, Brycen Kennedy, and Quinn O'Connor combined for 13 of the 16 Warrior goals while recording six combined assists. Appolon finished with three goals on four shots, four assists and seven total points. Kennedy recorded six goals, including four in the second half, on eight shots to go along with his two assists. O'Connor rounded out the trio with four goals on seven shots.
 
Kennedy and O'Connor lead the team in goals with Kennedy registering 20 goals this season while O'Connor is a close second with 16 goals as well as second on the team in assists with 10 behind only Appolon who has 11 assists this year.
 
Eastern heads on the road for a Little East Conference matchup with Western Connecticut State University on Tuesday night at Westside Athletic Complex. Face off is scheduled for 7:00 PM. The Warriors hold a 17-4 edge in the all-time series but have lost the last four head-to-head matchups by no more than three goals in each game after winning the first 17 games between the two squads.