MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College men's lacrosse team defeated visiting Gordon College 15- 8 in their Commonwealth Coast Conference season opener at the Walter M. Katz Field on Saturday afternoon. With the win the Colonels improve to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the CCC while the Fighting Scots slip to 3-4 on the season and 0-1 in conference action.
Gordon got on the board first with an unassisted goal from Nick Palandjian (Belmont, Mass.) and the 1-0 score held until Curry evened the game with two minutes remaining in the period. Tom Cashin (Boxford, Mass.) received a pass from MJ Urbano (Wakefield, Mass.) and fired it past the Scots goaltender Jay Gallipo (Dover, N.H.).
The Colonels came out on fire in the second as they outscored the Scots 7-2 to head into intermission with an 8-3 lead. Curry opened the quarter on a 3-0 run. Andrew DeLeary (Wakefield, Mass.) was first to strike on an unassisted tally. Cashin found Devin Newell (Medford, Mass.) and two minutes later Zach White (Milford, Conn.) made it 4-1 on an alone tally. Gordon answered with a goal by Nico-Manganiello (Peabody, Mass.) who was helped by Austin Early (Palmyra, Va.). The Colonels countered back quickly off the stick of Jake Stebbins (Colchester, Vt.). The Scots were able to put up one more before the half from Palandjian but Curry capped the stanza with another three scores. Stebbins earned a hat trick as he found the back of the net two more times and Newell got his second off a feed from MJ Urbano (Wakefield, Mass.).
Curry opened the second half netting the first four goals to push the score to 12-3. The Colonels got tallies from Jack McMenomey (West Linn, Ore.), Harrison Fallon (Wrentham, Mass.), Matt Serra (Haverhill, Mass.) and Dakota Sanders (Oak Bluffs, Mass.). Newell was credited with his lone assist on the day while Prajer earned his second. Gordon's Palandjian finished the third quarter scoring with a man-up unassisted tally.
The Scots outscored the Colonels, 4-3 in the final 15 minutes of play but it wasn't enough as Curry was able to hold on for the 15-8 victory. The hosts got goals from Cashin, McMenomey and Richard Robinson (Dedham, Mass.) with Newell dishing out an assist. The visitors got scores from Palandjian, Jason Dantona (Rockville Centre, N.Y.), Thor Rasmussen (Fairfax, Va.) and Early. Dantona also chipped in with a helper.
Newell led Curry with four points on two goals and two assists. Stebbins finished with three points on a hat trick while Cashin had three points on two tallies and a helper.
Palandjian paced Gordon with four goals while Dantona and Early finished with two points each on a goal and an assist.
O'Brien was credited with the win in the cage, making five saves in 45 minutes of action before giving way to Gavin Gaurino (Sandwich, Mass.) who made two stops in 15 minutes. Gallipo recorded the loss, registering 10 stops.
Curry will hit the road for their next game as they will travel to conference opponent Roger Williams for a 4:00 p.m. faceoff on Tuesday. Gordon will next play at home on Wednesday against conference opponent Western New England at 7:00 p.m.
