SPRINGFIELD, MA- The second-seeded Wheaton College men's
lacrosse team hung tough with Pilgrim League heavyweight
Springfield College before falling shy of earning its first
conference crown, suffering a 12-7 setback to the top seed on
Saturday during the tournament title game on Stagg Field.
In a rematch of the 2008 championship contest, the Lyons slipped
to 7-7 in seeing their program-record-tying seven-contest winning
streak end. Wheaton, which had not fallen since April 1, awaits a
possible Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament
berth. Now 11-6, Springfield won its eighth league crown and earned
an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
The Lyons held the Pride to its smallest margin of victory
against Pilgrim teams. After falling by a 14-3 count during the
regular season in Wheaton's initial league game under first-year
head coach Brian Endicott, the Lyons limited an
attack that had produced at least 22 goals in four of its last five
league games, including netting 24 in the semifinals against Babson
College.
Sophomore Duncan Smith (Centerport,
NY/Harborfields) put the visitors on top at 10:47 of the
first quarter before Springfield came back to tie 2:10 later. The
teams were still deadlocked after the first horn, as the Lyons
clamped down on a team that had averaged 9.8 first-quarter goals in
its past five conference contests, including recording 16 during
the opening period in the semifinals.
Springfield finished off a 5-0 run at 5:27 of the second before
sophomore Ben Cederberg (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury)
scored for the Lyons with 1:32 to go, but the Pride tallied the
last marker of the half to take a 6-2 advantage into the
intermission. Wheaton held the hosts to a season-low-tying goal
total for an opening half during league action, as Springfield had
averaged 16 in the first half of its prior five Pilgrim contests.
By 9:54 of the third, Springfield had grabbed a 9-3 advantage,
but Smith scored at 9:08 before Cederberg deposited a man-up tally
at 8:24. Neither team scored during the remainder of the period,
and Smith countered a goal early in the fourth to make it 10-6 with
10:48 left in regulation. However, the hosts tallied twice more to
lead by six with 4:29 to go, and junior Drew Schaffer (New
Haven, CT/Loomis Chaffee School) created the final margin
with a man-up goal at 2:28.
Smith finished with a hat trick for the Lyons, Cederberg had a
pair of tallies, and Schaffer notched a goal and an assist. Junior
Schuyler Horn (New Hartford, CT/Kingswood-Oxford
School) made 19 saves between the pipes, as he faced 55
Springfield shots. Wheaton's man-advantage offense, the eighth best
in the nation, went 2-for-3 in the game.
Senior Pat Cavanaugh (Wayland, MA/Wayland)
tallied a game-high four goals for the Pride, while classmate
Jake Beebe (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional)
had two goals and two assists. Senior Tom Albano
(Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) made 14 stops.
