SPRINGFIELD, MA- The second-seeded Wheaton College men's
lacrosse team suffered a setback to top seed Springfield College in
the Pilgrim League Tournament championship game for the third
consecutive season, as the Lyons dropped a 12-7 decision to the
Pride on Saturday afternoon at Stagg Field.
Wheaton, which was seeking its first league tourney crown and
victory over Springfield, had its three-game winning streak snapped
in closing its season at 8-8. Improving to 12-5, the Pride
will represent the Pilgrim in next week's NCAA Tournament.
Junior Chris Landers (Manchester, MA/Proctor
Academy) posted a hat trick for the visitors, classmate
Ben Cederberg (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) added a goal
and an assist, while senior goalie Schuyler Horn (New
Hartford, CT/Kingswood-Oxford School) closed out his
career with a season-best 17 saves.
For Springfield, senior Joe Heney (Plainview,
NY/Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy) amassed five
goals and one assist, sophomore Jarrid Johnson (Orlando,
FL/Bishop Moore) turned in a hat track, and sophomore
Marc Martinez (Babylon, NY/Babylon) surrendered
just one goal while stopping three shots in playing just the
opening half, as the Pride held an 8-1 lead at the
intermission.
After the hosts opened the game's scoring with a pair of goals
just 23 seconds apart, Landers sliced his team's deficit in half
with an unassisted tally at the 9:38 mark of the first
quarter. However, Wheaton didn't score again until early in
the third period, as Springfield went on a half-ending 6-0 run,
including holding a 5-1 advantage after the first. The Pride
tallied the first quarter's last three goals and second period's
only three, with Heney scoring four of the six.
To start the third quarter, Lyon senior Drew Schaffer
(New Haven, CT/Loomis Chaffee School) found classmate
Warren Garceau (Guilford, CT/Canterbury School)
for a man-up goal 35 seconds in, but Springfield answered right
back to keep its advantage at seven. Landers' extra-man tally
with 15 ticks to play in the period sparked a 3-0 Wheaton run that
carried into the fourth. The Lyons scored at 8:27 of the
final quarter and 26 seconds after that to get within 11-7 but came
no closer, as Johnson closed out the scoring with 5:43
remaining.
