Men's Lacrosse comes back from 5-0 deficit to defeat Castleton

Apparently, Nick Morello (North Billerica, MA) had Castleton exactly where he wanted them.

Facing a 5-0 deficit only ten minute into the Panthers' game against the Spartans of Castleton, Morello scored his first goal of the game with 1:13 left in the first quarter. In order to start a comeback, a goal is needed at the end of a quarter/half/etc. to truly get the team a going, and by Morello finding the back of the net in the first, PSU started to wake up.

4:31 into the second quarter, Senior Captain Zach Frank (Wakefield, MA) found Brett Miller (Windham, N.H.) to cut the lead to three. Frank assisted Mike Trocchi (Danvers, MA) to put the score at 5-3, and there was a clear shift in momentum at this point of the game.

Tyler Cote (San Antonio, TX) found Morello to the goalie's left to give Morello his second goal of the game only 30 seconds after the Trocchi goal. The Junior Morello wasn't done in the half, as he had his third goal of the game with 1:38 left in the half to tie the game at five for PSU. Despite a Castleton goal to give them a 6-5 lead heading into the half, it was clear that the Panthers had the momentum heading into the final 30 minutes of the game.

The machine of Nick Morello wasn't finished, as he scored his fourth of the game to re-tie the game up at six only 3:49 into the third quarter. Trocchi set up Chris Annunciata (Waltham, MA) to give the Panthers their first lead of the game a little over five minutes into the third quarter. Another Trocchi goal, as well as a Zach Frank goal gave the Panthers a 9-6 lead with 18:39 left in the game.

Castleton wasn't going to go down without a fight, as they scored the next three goals to tie the game back up at nine with 10:53 left in the non-conference contest. Morello scored his fifth goal of the game for the third time in his collegiate career to put the Panthers back up 10-9. Another Chris Annunciata goal gave PSU a two-goal cushion, and despite another Castleton goal, the defense was able to hold off the Spartans from scoring again.

Despite Castleton scoring five goals quick in the first quarter, Christopher St. George (Marblehead, MA) had 19 saves in the game, 12 of which came in the second half. St. George had the start while Jesse Kutz (Hopkinton, MA) was out of the game due to an injury.

Long-stick midfielder Ryan Garland (Franklin, MA) had a great game as well, as he had four ground balls, but freshman Brandon Lee (Canton, MI) one-upped him with five ground balls himself.

Overall, this was a true team win that showed a lot of character from the team. By not panicking, and being able to comeback from an early five-goal deficit, the Panthers showed that they aren't out of a game when they get down by a few goals. With this game being St. George's first of the season (and his first in the green and white of Plymouth), he had to shake off some early rust in the game, and needless to say, he was a big reason for the Panthers to capture their fifth win in seven games this year.

PSU will be back at it quick, as they have two games this upcoming weekend, as they face Salem State and Eastern Connecticut State University. These two conference games will likely go a long way as to which seed the Panthers will capture in the post-season Little East Conference tournament.