MILTON, Mass. - In a non-conference match up in men's lacrosse on Saturday afternoon, Curry College defeated Mitchell College, 13-7. With the win the Colonels improve to 2-0 on the season. The Mariners fell to 0-2 overall in the loss.
Curry was led by sophomore Jeff Yates (Albany, N.Y.) who netted three goals and added an assist for four points on the day. Sophomore Steve Grogan (Sandwich, Mass.) was 13-14 on face-offs and led the team in groundballs with five.
Mitchell was led by Kyle Marsh (Oakdale, Conn.) who tallied two goals and had a helper for three points.
The Colonels got scores from eight different players out of their 13 goals. Sophomore Matt Serra (Haverhill, Mass.) and freshmen MJ Urbano (Wakefield, Mass.) and Deven Newell (Medford, Mass.) each finished with two goals. Both, junior Brandon Flaim (Pembroke, Mass.) and freshman Wade Prajer (Southbury, Conn.) contributed with two points each on a goal and an assist. Rounding out the scoring for Curry was senior Joe Shea (Arlington, Mass.) and junior Jack McMenomey (West Linn, Ore.) who tallied a goal apiece. Junior Dominick Marcella (Hull, Mass.) got on the point list with an assist.
The Mariners had four different point scorers. Senior Dan DiGioia (Glen Ridge, N.J.) and freshman Owen LaPorte (Farmington, Conn.) each netted two goals and senior Aaron Sladyk (South Windsor, Conn.) scored one.
Curry took an early two goal lead in the first period off scores from Prajer and a man-up tally from Yates. Mitchell struggled to get on the board in the opening 15 minutes as the Colonels solid defense and strong goaltender from junior Shane O'Brien (East Falmouth, Mass.) kept the Mariners scoreless.
Curry struck first again in the second off an unassisted goal by Urbano. Mitchell answered back on their first score on the day after Marsh fed Sladyk the ball to cut the deficit back down to two. The teams traded goals over the next couple minutes with Urbano firing in one past junior goaltender JD LeMay (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) followed by Marsh on his first of two. The Colonels went on to net two more before the close of the first half to head into break with a 6-2 lead. Yates and Serra each tallied unassisted goals in the last five minutes of play.
The Mariners was first to get on the board to start the third with just 2:17 off the clock. DiGioia scored his first of two on the day unassisted. Curry answered with back-to-back goals, the first from Serra off a dish from Flaim and an unassisted score from McMenomey. DiGioia earned his second with 5:20 left in the period. With 2:11 showing, Yates assisted Flaim and 30 seconds later the Mariners LaPort received a pass from freshman Jacob Setzko (Farmington, Conn.) to make it a 9-5 game in favor of the Colonels.
The final stanza saw six goals scored with Curry outshooting Mitchell 4-2. Curry wasted no time scoring first as they won the opening face-off and with only 1:35 off the clock Prajer found an open Yates for his final tally on the day. Marcella assisted Newell to extend the lead to 11-5. At the 7:35 minute mark, Mitchells Marsh scored his second and final on the day. The Colonels got two more and the Mariners one over the last four minutes of the game. Shea and Newell had unassisted goals for Curry and Mitchells LaPorte closed out the scoring with just seconds left to play.
O'Brien picked up his first win of the season in net with 13 saves. LeMay earned the loss with 22 stops in net.
The Colonels led in ground balls at 25-13, earned 19-out of-21 face-offs and was 18-20 on clears. They also led in shots with 51-30.
Curry hosts Wheelock College on March 8 in a non-conference match-up at 3:30 p.m. Mitchell is next in action on March 19 when they host Johnston State for a 1:00 p.m. game start.
