Lasell Handed First GNAC Loss by Mount Ida

Article courtesy of Mount Ida sports information.

NEWTON, MA – With two and a half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Mount Ida College men's lacrosse junior attacker Zach Jacobson (Shoreview, MN) split two defenders behind the net and converted a one-on-one with the goaltender to give the Mustangs a 7-6 lead that would eventually become their sixth Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory to remain undefeated in league play against visiting rival Lasell Colllege Wednesday afternoon.  The two squads went into the game in a tie for first place in the conference standings with the Mustangs prevailing improving to an overall record of 8-7 and now sit atop the GNAC at a perfect 6-0.  The Lasers fall in their first league bid of the season slumping to an overall record of 7-7 and fall to 5-1 in conference play.

Mount Ida netminder Jimmy McAllister (Smithfield, RI) stood on his head the entire game denying shot after shot from the Lasers tallying a career high 26 saves including numerous point blank attempts.  Lasell senior goaltender Eric Walsh (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth) saw all 60 minutes denying eight Mount Ida shots.

Jacobson, who had not seen any action since game one against Curry College was the difference maker recording two goals and one assist.  Senior's Paul Battapaglia (Clinton, CT), Dan Harrington (Westford, MA/Westford Academy), and Matthew Savage (Peabody, MA), sophomore Nick Yacuzzi (Worcester, MA), and freshman Zach Rosen (East Greenwich, RI) all added one in the contest.  Senior Derek Broughton (Peabody, MA) dished out two assists.

For the Lasers, senior Nick Sampson (Londonderry, NH) led the offense with two scores while senior Christopher Buckley (Groton, CT), junior Jon Elia (East Lyme, CT), and freshman Dylan Fernandes (Billerica, MA) and Dan Clark (Scarborough, ME/Scarborough) each tallied one.  Sophomore Dylan Gray (Bayport, NY) chipped in three assists.

It was a tight game throughout the entire contest with the visitors dominating the middle circle watching junior face-off specialist Adam Foss (Billerica, MA) carom 14-16 wins scooping up an impressive 17 groundballs. 

The first 10 minutes of the contest were tight until Savage would convert the first goal of the game for the Mustangs on a feed from Broughton taking a 1-0 advantage.

The visitors answered scoring three consecutive goals starting with a Fernandes unassisted score on a man-up attempt tying the game up at 1-1.  Not even 15 seconds later the Lasers struck again off an Elia score on a dish from Gray for their first lead of the contest up 2-1.  The Lasers added one more to start the second quarter on an unassisted bid from Sampson for the commanding 3-1 lead.

The visiting advantage did not last long while the Mustangs would add two more starting with Jacobson's first goal of the game midway through the second frame on an unassisted score pulling within one goal down 3-2. Mount Ida would stalemate the score at 3-3 right before halftime on a Yacuzzi tally off a dish from Jacobson.

The visitors would split the 3-3 tie with two goals, the first coming in the opening 30 seconds of the third stanza on an unassisted goal by Clark taking a 4-3 advantage. 

Following a Mount Ida penalty for pushing, the Lasers converted a man-up goal by Buckley on a feed from Gray for the 5-3 lead which would become the final score of the third frame.

Early in the final stanza the Mustangs started to roll offensively starting with a Rosen score on a dish from Yacuzzi to pull within one trailing 5-4.  Battapaglia followed on a dish from Broughton to knot the score at 5-5 midway through the final quarter.

Harrington was next netting an unassisted goal with less than five minutes to go giving the Mustangs the lead for the second time since the beginning of the game up 6-5.

The visitors would not go quietly tying the game back up at 6-6 on Sampson's second goal of the contest on a feed from Gray with less than four minutes remaining in the game. 

It went back and forth for the next couple of ticks until the Mustangs struck on Jacobson's final tally of the game for the 7-6 advantage with 2:24 to go in the contest. 

The Lasers had a couple of chances down the stretch to tie the game back up, but McAllister stuffed a handful of desperation shots by the Lasers giving the Mustangs the 7-6 victory. 

Mount Ida, who is now the sole number one seed in the conference standings, will host GNAC opponent Becker College this Saturday on senior day with game time slated for 1:00 p.m.