On Saturday, April 13, 2002 the Plymouth State men’s lacrosse team lost 18-4 to New England’s fifth ranked team, the Warriors of Eastern Connecticut State University. Eastern Conneticut’s win marks their twenty-eighth straight home match at Thomas Nevers Field, keeping them atop the Little East Conference.
The win puts the Warriors to 4-0 in conference and 8-2 overall. The Panthers move to 2-2 in conference and 4-5 overall. This game marks the eighth straight time the Warriors have beaten the Pack. The Warriors have not lost at Nevers field since April 28, 1998 in a 10-9 overtime decision to Trinity College. Eastern is 45-2 in seven years of play on the field.
The Warriors score the first seven goals of the match and led 13-2 at the half. The Panthers were held scoreless in two of four periods. Eastern Connecticut seniors Christopher Stry-charz and Kirk Belanger each tallied four points in the last regular-season home game of their NCAA careers. Strychar scored three and had an assist, while Belanger balanced two goals with two assists. Unwilling to be left out of the fun, seniors Kevin Ireland flicked in two goals and Michael Grabski netted one goal.
Panther’s goal scorers include freshman Steve Skinner and Pat O’Malley, junior Jason Biedrzycki, and senior Nolan Fredericks. Skinner and Fredericks got onto the boards with second-quarter goals, while O’Malley and Biedrzycki rounded out the scoring during the fourth quarter. Junior goaltender Dan Egan made 16 saves in the loss.
On Saturday, April 18, 2002 the Panthers travel down to U-Mass Boston in a huge Little East Conference match-up. LEC wins are extremely important for the Panthers if the hope to make the pot season.