WEST HARTFORD, Conn. --  The Eastern Connecticut State University men's lacrosse team scored seven consecutive goals that helped erase the last of three three-goal deficits in the Warriors' 14-11 non-conference victory over the University of Saint Joseph Wednesday afternoon at the USJ Athletic Complex.
 
Playing the third of six straight season-opening road games, Eastern (2-1) scored the final goal of the third quarter against Saint Joseph (2-2), then turned to both its offense and man-down defense in the fourth quarter to defeat the Blue Jays for the third time in as many meetings in the all-time series.
 
In the fourth quarter, Eastern's defense allowed only two of Saint Joseph's nine shots to reach senior goalie Nick Collazo (Park Ridge, NJ), while the Warriors put seven of their nine fourth-quarter shots on USJ senior goalie Trey McCann that resulted in six goals in a span of nine minutes. Incredibly, Eastern's man-down unit killed off seven of USJ's extra-man opportunities in the fourth quarter, the hosts finally breaking through for an extra-man goal trailing by four goals with two minutes left in the match.
 
In the fourth, junior midfielder Zacharie Appolon (Stamford) scored twice and sophomores Tim Lichack (Clinton) and Quinn O'Connor (Glastonbury) each adding  a goal and assist.
 
Collazo stopped 15 shots for his second win in three decisions this year, and junior faceoff many Scott Galbo (East Lyme) put Eastern on the offensive more often than not by winning 18 of 25 faceoffs. Seven Eastern players contributed at least two points, with sophomore attack Brycen Kennedy (Southington) scoring three times and adding an assist. Playing in his first recorded game, first-year attackman Warren Channing (Glastonbury) recorded his first two goals on a team-high nine shots. Channing's first goal was an extra-man strike off an assist from senior Garrett Lapham (Trumbull) that cut USJ's three-goal lead to one four seconds into the second half and his second goal as unassisted and provided the dagger with just under three minutes left in the game that made it 14-10.
 
Senior defenseman Ryan Stocks (Longmeadow, MA) led Eastern with a career-high 11 ground balls to go along with three caused turnovers.
 
Eastern plays three matches in Davenport, FL at Northeast Regional Park next week, meeting Lasell University Tuesday and Farmingdale State College two days later, both matches at noon.