NEWPORT, R.I. – The Curry College men's lacrosse team came up just short at Salve Regina University on Tuesday afternoon, falling by a 15-13 final in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Gaudet Field.
The junior duo of Jake Stebbins (Colchester, Vt.) and Harrison Fallon (Wrentham, Mass.) each tallied four goals and one assist to lead the Colonel offense. Junior Kyle Ton (Norwich, Conn.) pitched in two while sophomore Samuel Nielsen (Fairfield, Conn.), sophomore Matthew Scahill (Gales Ferry, Conn.), and senior Devin Newell (Medford, Mass.) contributed a goal each to round out the scoring.
Salve Regina improved to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the CCC while Curry dropped to 4-7 overall and 1-3 in league play.
The Seahawks struck quick in the first quarter. The first goal came just under 30 seconds in when sophomore Joe Grimm (Williston Park, N.Y.) put one home on an unassisted marker to go up 1-0. The Colonels responded with their own on a man-up goal from Ton 1:39 later. Salve Regina then went on a 3-0 run on goals by junior Ethan Robson (Lincoln, R.I.), sophomore Pat Leary (Wakefield, Mass.), and freshman Niko Szelest (Bristol, R.I.) to push the score to 4-1 in favor of the Seahawks. The squads traded tallies over the final 3:21 of the stanza. Stebbins found the back of the net with 2:57 remaining while Robson recorded his second of the period with 41 seconds left to give Salve Regina a 5-2 lead after one.
Sophomore Brendan Kelly (Long Beach, N.Y.) opened the second frame with back-to-back goals to extend the lead to 7-2. Curry answered back with a 3-0 run on two goals by Stebbins and the final from Nielsen to cut the Seahawk lead to 7-5 with 9:03 left in the half. Szelest registered the final goal of the quarter for either side with 7:57 remaining to push the lead to 8-5, Salve Regina at the half.
The Seahawks came out firing in the third quarter, going on a 4-0 run. Senior Mike Mongelli (Roslyn, N.Y.) scored just 21 seconds in to start the spurt. Kelly followed with a man-up goal off an assist from Grimm. Freshman Sean Fitzgerald (Guilford, Conn.) tallied one off a helper from Robson and then Leary finished the run with a goal, the assist going to sophomore Justin Valluzzi (Hicksville, N.Y.) to make the score 12-5 with 6:57 left in the frame. Scahill got a goal back for the Colonels 3:10 later and then tacked one on with 19 seconds left, thanks to a man-up marker from Fallon. Stebbins was awarded the helper as Curry trailed by five, 12-7 at the end of three.
The Colonels doubled up Salve Regina 6-3 in the final quarter, but were unable to come away with the win. Stebbins capped off his five-point day with a goal 40 seconds in. The helper was given to junior Andrew DeLeary (Wakefield, Mass.). Robson scored his final goal on a man-up opportunity with 12:53 remaining. The next two goals for Curry came 53 seconds apart from one another. Fallon netted an unassisted tally and then came back 36 later to score an unassisted marker a man-up.
The Colonels outscored Salve Regina 3-1 over the final 5:39 of game action, but the Seahawks were able to come away with the two-goal victory.
Freshman Mike Sullivan (Exeter, N.H.) had a 17-save day in net while senior Josh Teller (Milford, Conn.) made six stops in the loss for Curry.
Curry returns home for its next contest and will host Gordon College on Saturday, April 6 at 3:00 p.m. Salve Regina remains home and will host Nichols on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
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