Pride Advances to Championship after Semifinal Win over Mitchell

WESTON, Mass. - Junior Calvin Brault (Colchester, Vt.) scored two goals and added six assists on Wednesday night to lift the top-seeded Regis (Mass.) men's lacrosse team over #4 Mitchell College 16-8 in the New England Collegiate Conference semifinals.

With the win, the Pride (6-9) advances to face #2 Daniel Webster, who defeated Becker 6-0 in the other semifinal, in Saturday's NECC Championship to be held at Regis Stadium at 1:00 p.m. Mitchell's season comes to a close at 2-10.

The Pride jumped out to a big early lead, scoring the game's first seven goals before the Mariners got on the board just under five minutes into the second quarter. Senior Nick Romig (Dedham, Mass.) helped lead the Pride on the early surge, scoring a natural hat trick over a span of 3:48. Brian Jordan (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) broke the ice for Mitchell at the 10:18 mark of the second quarter, the first of three straight goals from the Mariners to make it a four-goal game. 

Just nine seconds after the third Mariner goal, which came with 1:10 left in the second quarter, senior Brandon Mehler (Bay Shore, N.Y.) scored the first of three goals in a span of :27 for the Pride, which included the first collegiate goal for sophomore defender George Nicolopoulos (Windham, N.H.). Mitchell added one more goal late in the half to go to the locker room trailing the Pride 10-4.

A pair of man-up goals, one from junior Danny Rancano (Miami, Fla.) and one from Mehler, in the third quarter highlighted a period in which the home Pride outscored the visitors 4-1 and put the game all but out of reach. Mitchell outscored Regis 3-2 in the fourth quarter, but it proved much too little too late, as the Pride sealed the victory. In the game's final minute, Mitchell freshman Reilly Steele (Chevy Chase, Md.) recorded his first collegiate goal.

The Pride's Mehler and the Mariners' Jordan led their respective teams by each scoring four goals. Romig and A.J. Karofsky (Barrington, R.I.) each scored hat tricks for the Pride as well.

Brault's six assists in a game is a new career high, and matches a Regis program record. Peter Leighton, a 2015 graduate, recorded six assists on two occasions, the first on April 11, 2013 and the second on April 8, 2015.

Mitchell goaltender JD LeMay (Hopewell Junction, N.Y) had a strong performance in his final collegiate game despite the loss, recording 15 saves. The Pride's D.J. Barrile (Medford, Mass.) turned away seven Mariner shots in the win.

#RegisMLAX