MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College Men's Lacrosse team battled until the end against the visiting Johnson and Wales Wildcats, falling 10-9. The loss drops the Colonels to 10-7 on the season while Johnson and Wales improves to 11-9.

Freshman MJ Urbano (Wakefield, Mass.) got the Colonels on the board 1:12 into the game, firing a shot past the net-minder to give Curry a 1-0 lead. The Wildcats struck back with a goal of their own to even the score. Sophomore Sam Sears (Baltimore, Md.) received a pass from Freshman Ben Farrell (Dowington, Pa.) and beat Junior goaltender Shane O'Brien (East Falmouth, Mass.).

The purple and white responded with a three-goal run, getting goals from Junior Jack McMenomey (West Linn, Ore.), Freshman Devin Newell (Medford, Mass.) and Sophomore Tom Cashin (Boxford, Mass.). Johnson and Wales cut into the Colonels lead with two goals in the last two minutes of the first quarter, the first coming from Sophomore Eric Russo (West Grove, Pa.) and the second coming on a man-up advantage, Junior Brian Hillenbrand (Portsmouth, R.I.) found the back of the net on a pass from Sophomore Bret Verderber (St. James, N.Y.). The Colonels took a 4-3 lead into the second quarter.

The Wildcats continued their scoring in the second, scoring four unanswered goals before Curry tallied another. Johnson and Wales got goals from Farrell, Sears, Freshman Erik Lindaas (Milford, Pa.) and Hillenbrand. Curry's tally came just under ten minutes into the quarter when Sophomore Jeff Yates (Albany, N.Y.) rattled one to the back of the net to cut the Wildcats lead to 7-5. Russo found twine for his second goal of the night to extend Johnson and Wales lead back to three going into half.

Coming out of the half, both teams couldn't get much offense going, trading turnovers for the first ten minutes of the half. Johnson and wales tallied their only goal for the quarter with fine minutes remaining, Sears found an open man in Lindaas who beat the keeper. Curry got on the board in the quarter a minute later on a goal from McMenomey, assisted by Frshman Kyle Lussier (Topsham, Maine). With just 40 seconds remaining in the quarter, Urbano took a pass from Junior Brandon Flaim (Pembroke, Mass.) and beat Sophomore JC Guido to make it a two goal game heading into the fourth quarter.

Urbano completed his hat-trick just 30 seconds into the fourth, with a man-up goal to make it a one-goal game. Both teams would trade offensive attacks for the next ten minutes of play, with neither team able to break through. With four and a half minutes to go in regulation, Johnson and Wales tallied what would be the game-winning goal when Sophomore Max Stone (Burlington, Conn.) scored with a man-up advantage. Curry made it a 10-9 game with 38 second remaining on a goal from Junior Joseph Grogan (Sandwich, Mass.) assisted by Flaim. Curry had a flurry of shots in the last seconds of the game but couldn't find the back of the net.

Guido picked up the victory for the Wildcats, stopping 17 of the 26 shots he faced. O'Brien took the loss for the Colonels, making five saves on 14 shots. Freshman Josh Teller (Milford, Conn.) replaced O'Brien with five minutes remaining in the third quarter, making two save on three shots faced.

Johnson and Wales moves on to play Swarthmore College in the semi-finals on Saturday, May 14 with a scheduled start time of 1:00 pm. For the Colonels, the loss brings an end to their season.