Navoni Nets Game-Winning Goal in Overtime as Men's Lacrosse Defeats Southern Maine, 14-13

Navoni Nets Game-Winning Goal in Overtime as Men's Lacrosse Defeats Southern Maine, 14-13

MILTON, Mass. – Curry College defeated visiting Southern Maine University, 14-13 in overtime on Tuesday afternoon.  Colonel senior attacker Andrew Navoni (Natick, Mass.) netted the game winning goal.  This was the Colonels second consecutive overtime win.

With the win the Colonels improve to 3-0 overall, while the Huskies fell to 0-2 on the season.

SMU tallied the first three goals in the opening frame to take an early 3-0 lead.  Senior Steve Ribero (Londonderry, N.H.) and junior Dylan Kenney (Portland, Maine) each had one unassisted.  Senior Kyle Baker (Kennebunk, Maine) scored his off an assist from senior Mike Orlando (Hanover, Mass.).  Curry’s senior Joseph Natale (Haverhill, Mass.) netted the next two to cut the Huskies lead by one.  Natale had one unassisted goal and his second off a pass from sophomore Connor McKeon (Larchmont, N.Y.).  SMU however would find the back of the net once more before the end of the period with just 17 seconds showing on the board.  Baker earned his second unassisted. 

The Huskies outscored the Colonels 4-3 in the second period to head into halftime with an 8-5 lead.  Curry scored first when Natale found an open junior Connor Arnold (Clifton Park, N.Y.) open in front of the net.  SMU scored the next three all from senior Mark White (Oakville, Ontario).  Baker had two assists on White’s goals while sophomore Eddie Barrasso (Wilmington, Mass.) helped on one.  The Colonels scored back-to-back goals within 44 seconds.  Natale was the first with just 1:52 remaining in the half and senior Matt Atwood (Bolton, Mass.) one-timed a shot off an assist from junior Harrison Foster (Saddle River, N.J.).  The Huskies however would get their eighth of the game with 11 seconds left to play.  White scored his fourth goal of the game unassisted.  White went one on one with a Colonel defender and sent the ball into the upper right hand corner of the net past Curry’s senior netminder Thomas D’Amato (West Simsbury, Conn.).

The Colonels made a goaltending change to start the second half.  Senior Tim McGonagle (Concord, Mass.) replaced D’Amato and allowed just five goals over the next 31:26 minutes of play.  The third period saw just three goals, with Curry having two and SMU one.  Natale and sophomore Ronald Jensen (Zionsville, Ind.) each had unassisted goals for the Colonels.  Baker netted his third and final goal of the game off an assist from White. 

Both teams combined for 10 total goals in the final 15 minutes of play.  Curry had six of the goals including the last two. The last was the tying goal that led the teams into overtime with 2:33 left to play.  Jensen, Navoni, Natale and Arnold each had one.  Sophomore John Castellano (Scarsdale, N.Y.) scored two including the tying net on a man-up situation.  Castellano rolled the crease and ripped a shot past SMU’s freshman goaltender, Ryan Jurgelevich (Portland, Maine).  The Colonels called a time out with three minutes left to play that resulted in Castellano’s net.  Castellano also had a hand in one of the six tallies.  The Huskies got goals from senior Kayle Hamilton (Buxton, Maine) who also chipped in with an assist, sophomore Kaleb Smith (West Gardiner, Maine) and White who finished the day with a team high of five.  

In overtime, Curry won the face-off and was able to keep possession of the ball in SMU’s defensive zone.  After passing the ball around, Navoni received a pass from Natale and saw his chance to take it to net.  Navoni took the shot for the game-winner. 

Curry’s next game is on March 13 when they travel to Manhattanville for a 1:00 p.m. start.  Southern Maine travels to the University of New England on March 7 for a 4:00 p.m. game.