BEACONS SPOIL SENIOR DAY WITH LATE RALLY

WESTON, Mass. – In a game that featured six ties, the University of Massachusetts at Boston scored two goals in the closing minutes to break a deadlock and come away with a 14-12 win against Regis College in non-conference men's lacrosse action on Thursday in Weston. Mass.-Boston moves even to 8-8 on the season with the victory, while Regis falls to 9-6.

The Pride's Peter Leighton (Wilmington, Mass.) recorded a game-high seven points on four goals and three assists, while teammate Nicky Rodrigo (Miami, Fla.) was close behind with three goals and three assists in the losing effort. The Beacon's John Powers (Marshfield, Mass.) led the visitors with four goals and two assists, and five other Mass.-Boston players scored two goals each in the win.

Prior to the game, Regis honored its five graduating seniors with a brief ceremony as part of Senior Day. The Pride recognized attackers Matt Vogan (Billerica, Mass.) and Chris Campbell (S. Hadley, Mass.), midfielder Billy Stewart (W. Roxbury, Mass.), defender Brian Cidado (Easton, Mass.), and goalie Breandan Crane (Billerica, Mass.) for their dedication to the program over their years at Regis College.

Following the ceremony, Nicky Rodrigo (Miami, Fla.) got things started early by scoring back-to-back goals to give the Pride a 2-0 advantage by the 9:13 mark of the first quarter. The Beacons responded by notching three goals in less than three minutes to jump ahead for a 3-2 lead. Dom Fichera (Scituate, Mass.) beat Crane with a low shot after receiving a quick pass on the goal line from Noah Ellis (Hingham, Mass.) following unassisted goals by Tommy Petitti (Quincy, Mass.) and Donny Delpha (Walpole, Mass.).

Rodrigo tied things up with a quick shot on a feed from Peter Fucci (Amherst, N.H.) with 4:06 to play in the quarter. Less than two minutes later, Fucci scored a goal of his own after getting a flip pass from Vogan, which led to a shot.

The Pride would score the first goal and the last goal of the second quarter, but three Beacon goals were sandwiched in between. Rodrigo fed Leighton to open the scoring in the quarter, but Ryan McGoff (Charlestown, Mass.) cut the deficit back to one on a pass from Delpha, and Powers scored two unanswered goals to reclaim the lead for Boston. Powers' tucked his second goal inside the post after receiving a pass in front from Nick Weiss (Westfield, Mass.).

Coming out of halftime, the Beacons made the most of their man-up opportunities and looked like they might run away with the game after Delpha, Powers, and Fichera each found the back of the net to push their lead to 9-6. The Pride answered back with a man-up goal of their own when Stewart scored on a crank shot, top shelf, off a pass from Leighton from behind the net.

McGoff pushed the lead back to three by the 6:53 mark, but Regis scored three quick goals to close out the third quarter, including two in the last 30 seconds, to even the score at 10-10. Campbell scored from Rodrigo, while Leighton scored the next two from Stewart and O'Brien, respectively.

The back-and-forth action continued into the game's final stanza, as the Beacons opened up with two goals before the Pride came storming back with two of their own. Powers and Petitti capitalized for Boston before Fucci and Leighton scored for the Pride.

With the game deadlocked at 12, Ellis provided the heroics for the Blue, White, and Black by notching two goals with under four minutes to play to put the game away. The game-winner came with 3:40 to play when Ellis took a pass in front from Weiss and sent the ball top shelf. He added some insurance less than 60 seconds later when he shot the ball towards the opposite post after getting the ball from Powers.

Crane suffered the loss in goal despite a 16 save performance. A.J. Collette (W. Springfield, Mass.), Craig Frehill (Norwell, Mass.), and James Bischoff (East Lyme, Conn.) combined for 12 saves in the win for Mass.-Boston.

The Beacons wrap up their regular season schedule this Saturday with a 1 p.m. home game against Mass.-Dartmouth this Saturday. The Pride conclude their regular season with a 7 p.m. New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) contest at Becker on Tuesday evening.