NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's lacrosse team scored five of the final six goals to erase a three-goal deficit midway through the third quarter to come away with a 12-11 victory over visiting Emerson College this afternoon in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference opener at Nordin Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in league play, while the Lions fall to 5-5- and 0-1.
Junior midfielder Jack Board (Westborough, Mass.) netted the eventual game-winner for Wheaton late in the fourth quarter to give the Lyons their first win over Emerson since a 17-3 victory on April 21, 2018 in Norton.
In a match that was evenly played, Wheaton owned a 17-10 face-off advantage and owned a 43-38 shot margin.
Sophomore midfielder Charlie Racine (Oradell, N.J.) came off the bench to lead all scorers with a career-high five goals for the Lyons and added a pair of ground balls and a caused turnover. Junior midfielder Mike McLaughlin (Stoughton, Mass.) and first year attackman Evan Paturzo (Bellingham, Mass.) each notched three points with two goals and an assist. First year face-off specialist Chris Bodnaruk (Andover, Mass.) was outstanding on the draw for Wheaton, winning 17 of 27 face-offs and picked up a career-high eight ground balls. Senior defender Jacob Wharton (Worcester, Mass.) led the defense with five ground balls and four caused turnovers and junior goalie Connor Almstrom (Cumberland, R.I.) made 12 saves to earn the win for the home team.
Senior midfielder Nicholas Fulgione (North Andover, Mass.) paced the Lions' offense with four goals and an assist in addition to a pair of ground balls and senior attackman Birk Swan (Palos Verdes, Calif.) netted three goals to go with an assist, two caused turnovers and a ground ball. Graduate student midfielder Pierce Eldredge (Media, Pa.) also contributed to the offensive effort for Emerson with a pair of goals and an assist. Graduate student defender Josh DeMattos (Queensbury, N.Y.) picked up five ground balls and graduate student netminder Malcolm McGrath (Ridgefield, Conn.) stopped 13 shots.
Fulgione tallied his second goal in a span of 48 seconds to give the Lions their largest lead of the day at 10-7 with 7:35 left to play in the third quarter.
The Lyons' defense clamped down and allowed just one goal in the final 22:35 of play, while the offense scored five times.
McLaughlin began the comeback with a marker on an assist from Board with 6:04 showing in the third quarter, before Racine netted a man-up goal and Paturzo scored with 96 seconds left in the quarter to pull Wheaton even at 10-10. Racine gave the Lyons their first lead (11-10) since early in the second quarter when he found the back of the net just 90 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Fulgione ended Emerson's scoring drought after a span of 13 minutes and 44 seconds when he tallied an unassisted goal with 8:51 left in the game to re-tie the contest at 11-11.
Paturzo carried the ball down the right side, before sending a pass to the right side just outside of the arc, where Board received it and fired a laser into the back of the net for his first goal of the afternoon and a 12-11 edge for Wheaton.
The Lions had one last chance to tie when graduate student midfielder Jack O'Rourke (Palisades, Calif.) fired a shot from outside the arc with three seconds left in the match, but the shot was high and ricocheted off of Almstrom's stick and harmlessly over the back line.
The teams traded the lead three times early in the match. McLaughlin put the Lyons on the board with 10:26 left in the opening period of play, before Swan and Fulgione countered for Emerson to give the visitors a 2-1 edge with 4:45 remaining in the first quarter. Racine pulled Wheaton even with a goal on a feed from sophomore attackman Emmett Edwards (Sunderland, Vt.) coming with 3:23 to go in the quarter.
Swan and O'Rourke netted the next two markers for the Lions to give them a 4-2 lead with 50 seconds left, before senior midfielder Cole Reid (Laconia, N.H.) scored the final goal of the quarter and the first of his career for Wheaton with 14 ticks showing on the first quarter clock to make it a one goal game.
The Lyons carried their momentum into the second quarter with Racine and Edwards netting back-to-back goals to start the quarter and give the home team a 5-4 edge with 12:06 to play in the period. Emerson countered with goals from Eldredge and Swan to reclaim the lead at 6-5 with 6:32 showing in the second quarter.
Racine and Burns traded goals between the teams, before Paturzo and Eldredge also matched each other to keep it a one-goal match at 8-7 in the Lions' favor before the teams broke for the intermission.
Wheaton returns to action on Saturday, March 23 when it travels to New London, Conn. to take on NEWMAC foe United States Coast Guard Academy at 3:00 p.m., while Emerson hosts Springfield College at Rotch Field on the same day at 1:00 p.m.
