MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College men's lacrosse team rallied back from a three-goal deficit to earn a 13-11 victory over Roger Williams University on Tuesday night in a Commonwealth Coast Conference showdown in a rematch from the conference quarterfinals from a year ago.
Jake Stebbins (Colchester, Vt.) provided the spark on the offensive end with a team-high four goals to pace the Colonels (7-4 overall, 22 CCC). Goalie Josh Teller (Milford, Conn.) converted 10 saves and allowed only one goal in the fourth quarter as Curry picked up the come-from-behind victory.
Roger Williams (6-6 overall, 2-3 CCC) got out of the gate quickly thanks to a 3-0 run with goals coming from Tim Mullane (Hanover, Mass.), Gabe Reale (Fairfield, Conn.) and Chris Bova (Ridgefield, Conn.). The Colonels halted the spurt with a tally from Zach White (Milford, Conn.) to cut the deficit to two with 3:45 left in the frame.
The Hawks opened the second quarter with an unassisted marker going to Peter Navarro (Londonderry, N.H.) but Stebbins answered back with a shot that found the nylon at with 11:22 left. Navarro came back with his second of the stanza before the Colonels went on a three-goal run over the final 5:25, powered by markers from Ryan Ofgant (Natick, Mass.), Tom Cashin (Boxford, Mass.), and Matt Serra (Haverhill, Mass.) to knot the game at five going into the intermission.
Stebbins started the scoring with a tally at just 2:50 into the second half. Roger Williams then rattled off a 5-0 and took its largest lead at 10-6 following a goal from Mullane with 3:42 to play in the quarter. Curry clawed its way back into the game as four different players: Cashin, Devin Newell (Medford, Mass.), Cameron Nigro (Scarborough, Maine) and Stebbins found the back of the net to tie the game at 10 heading into the final stanza.
The final quarter of regulation featured four goals, three of which came in favor of the Colonels. Newell got things started with a tally off an assist from Andrew DeLeary (Wakefield, Mass.) while Serra followed with a marker and the helper going to DeLeary. Navarro cut the deficit to one with a goal at the 9:19 mark, 12-11. Curry was able to hold off the Roger Williams offense for the final nine minutes of play as they would tack on an insurance goal with 33 seconds left to go in regulation on a strike from Stebbins to capture the contest by the two-goal margin.
Curry's comeback was spurred by extra-man opportunities. The Colonels went 3-for-4 with the man advantage and converted on both first-half opportunities. Curry held a commanding 47-33 edge in shots and a 36-33 advantage in ground balls.
Serra and Newell each finished with a pair of goals while DeLeary handed out two assists. Sean Ford (Barnstable, Mass.) and Chris Bronander (Glen Ridge, N.J.) led the defense with two caused turnovers on defense for the Colonels while White picked up a team-high eight ground balls.
Navarro led the Hawks with four goals while Grier added two assists. Luke Bernasconi (Hanover, Mass.) won 11 out of 27 face-offs on the day while also scooping up a team-high seven ground balls. Goalie Ryan Bannon (Hopkinton, Mass.) recorded 14 saves in the loss.
Curry will next host Endicott on Saturday, April 14 at 3:00 p.m. Roger Williams returns to action at home against Western New England on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
