Senior Night Looms for Men's Lacrosse

The winning streak continued after the PSU Men’s Lacrosse team beat Salem State 10-6 during their first home game at New Hampton School on Saturday night, April 11^th. Sophomore Alex Croatti (Brunswick, Maine) scored a team-high three goals, with Nick Morello (North Billerica, Mass) and Collin Claflin (Pembroke, Mass) close behind, scoring two goals to help the team pull off the victory. The defense was anchored behind stellar play by goalie Chris St George (Marblehead, Mass), who saved 18 of the 24 shots on goal.

In the next game against a talented Southern Maine team, the PSU Lax team squeaked by with an 8-7 victory, to extend the winning streak to nine. The team outscored Southern Maine 7-5 in the second half, and won the game with a goal in the last two minutes by senior captain Nick Morello, who had a team high two goals. The defense held its ground led by senior captain Nick Allard (Norwich, Conn), and their goalie Chris St George, who saved 12 of the 19 shots on goal.

Their next home game came against UMass Boston, where the team won their tenth straight game, and stayed undefeated in the LEC with a 12-8 victory. The team started off fast, scoring five goals in the first two quarters with Phil Pichel (Hopkinton, Mass) and Nicco Sorrentino (Chelmsford, Mass) both scoring a team high three goals, to take a 10-1 lead going into half time. The defense let up in the second half, allowing seven goals to bring the game closer, but in the end PSU beat UMass Boston keeping their momentum in high gear.

On Tuesday, April 21^st the lacrosse team had their hardest game of the season, playing the defending LEC champions Keene State Owls. The game didn’t start well for the Panthers, who allowed six goals in the first two quarters, then seven in the third, giving the Owls a 19-5 lead going into the fourth quarter. The team played hard, but the game ended in a lopsided 21-9 loss.

“Try to stay positive, and take the positive aspect of the loss. We know we can beat East Conn, and we have never been in the situation where we can get the two seed locked up and have home field throughout the playoffs,” said Nick Morello after the loss to Keene State.

When asked about the loss, defenseman Andy Ripley (South Paris, ME) said “were going to try to stick together as a team, I know that the defense let up quite a few points, so were definitely going to look at the film try to tighten things back up, get the slides and prevail over Eastern.”

Plymouth is 5-1 in the LEC and 11-2 overall going into their last game against Eastern Connecticut on senior night at New Hampton School this Friday, April 24^th. East Conn is 4-2 in the LEC and 6-6 overall heading into Friday. If the Panthers beat East Conn, then they are second in the LEC and get a first round bye, and have home-field advantage until the championship game.  

When asked about what the strategy against East Conn is, Morello said “East Conn plays a strong game in-between the boxes and I feel like we do to, so we are going to try and contain the ball in there so we can get clears, and get it to our offense so we don’t have to play defense too long. The biggest thing is to contain them.”

Andy Ripley was asked the same question and he said “work on the fundamentals, and do our jobs.”

Friday is a big game for all of the seniors, since it is the last regular season lacrosse game they will play for the Plymouth State Panthers. The adrenaline will be pumping, and each senior will play their best.

“We have a big senior class, and we pretty much have stuck here all four years, and have all been playing since freshman year. There are a lot of guys that are graduating; it’s a big deal, and it’s our last chance to beat East Conn,” added Nick Morello.