Camel Time: Conn. College Nabs Top Seed
from press release
NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Connecticut College Men's Lacrosse
Team defeated Wesleyan University 8-6 in front of 300 fans at the
Artificial Turf at Silfen Field Friday. With the victory, the road
to the NESCAC Championship will run through Route 32 in New London
as the eighth ranked Camels (14-1, 8-1 NESCAC) will carry the
number one seed with home field advantage throughout the conference
playoffs.
Wesleyan evened its record at 7-7 with a 3-6 mark in league play.
The Cardinals will return to New London Sunday afternoon for a
rematch in a 1:00 p.m. Quarterfinal game.
Connecticut College Head Coach Dave Cornell is looking ahead to the
next challenge and Sunday's rematch against a well coached and
prepared Wesleyan squad.
"I'm looking forward to Sunday and taking next step toward winning
NESCAC Championship," Cornell said. "Sunday is a whole different
thing than today. We have to give a great effort on Sunday."
The Camels built a 6-1 lead after Eric Doran (Pennington, N.J.)
scored an acrobatic goal as he was being checked to the turf with
6:49 remaining in the third. But Wesleyan battled back with a 4-0
run to pull to within 6-5. Jon Killeen (Derry, N.H.) capped the
rally with a wraparound move at 8:52 in the fourth quarter to make
it a one goal game.
Wesleyan had a chance to even the score with a possession midway
through the fourth quarter but Mike O'Donnell (Winchester, Mass.)
induced a turnover with a timely stick check near the midline on
his ride. Moments later, the Camels cashed in on the Cardinal
miscue as John Lyons (Barrington, R.I.) assisted Kevin Nally
(Ridgewood, N.J.) for a turnaround shot that put the hosts in a
more comfortable position with a 7-5 advantage.
Wesleyan was trying to find seams in the Camel zone with some
outside shots. With 3:00 minutes remaining, Adam Michael (Concord,
Mass.) launched a blast from 18 yards out that was saved by John
Lenehan (Hingham, Mass.). Later on with 1:45 to go, Lenehan stoned
Teddy Citrin (New Canaan, Conn.) with another critical stop.
"Lenny (Lenehan) is a very good goalie," Cornell said. "He played
great this whole week in practice. We talked about giving him a
start. I've got two number one guys on my roster."
Lenehan made three save in fourth quarter relief. Sophomore Rob
Moccia (Malvern, Pa.) stopped 12 shots in the first three periods
of action to improve his record to 13-1 this season. With 31
seconds left in the third, Moccia took a thunderous hit that
resulted in a penalty as he was leaping for a loose ball in the
crease.
The Camels took a 2-1 lead after one quarter of play. Mark Mangano
(Basking Ridge, N.J.) supplied the only score of the second,
dangling his way through defenders on a nifty spin move with 11:57
to play and the hosts enjoyed a 3-1 advantage at the break.
Ryan Hayes (Darien, Conn.) scored the first two goals of the second
half, before Doran made it a 6-1 game with his 22nd of the season.
Hayes and Mangano led the Camels with two goals each. Steve
Dachille (Garden City, N.Y.) scored his 42nd goal of the season
Friday.
Sophomore Chuck Czerkawski (Cohasset, Mass.) was 9-for-15 in face
offs with three ground balls to close out the regular season with
61 gbs for the Camels.
Killeen scored four goals for Wesleyan to lead all scorers and
close out the regular season with 42 points on 21 goals and 21
assists. Rookie net-minder Mark Simmons (East Hampton, N.Y.) made
six saves in 23:47 of first half action. Grant Covington
(Gloucester, Mass.) stopped seven shots in relief.
Senior midfielder Matt Ward (Boxford, Mass.) was 6-for-15 in his
battles with Czerkawski in the trenches. Junior Gabe Kelley
(Bethesda, Md.) had four ground balls for the visitors.
