By NoontimeSports.com
Courtesy of the Springfield College sports information department, here’s this afternoon’s release from the men’s lacrosse game against Babson College:
Springfield, Mass. – April 27, 2013 – Ryan Murphy racked up four goals and an assist to lead the Springfield College men’s lacrosse team to a thrilling 13-11, come-from-behind victory over Pilgrim League rival Babson on Saturday afternoon.
The visiting Beavers were paced by senior attack Alex Patinkin’s three goals and one helper. Kyle Barsalou added two goals, an assist, and three ground balls and freshman Scott Doten registered two goals and three ground balls as well.
The win gives the Pride the number one overall seed in the upcoming Pilgrim League tournament, and their 47th consecutive victory over conference opponents. Springfield has not dropped a game in league play since a 2006.
Springfield freshman Brendan Boss notched another hat trick for the home team and added an assist and three ground balls to fill out the stat sheet. Ryon Lynch potted a pair of goals, dished out an assist, and scooped six of the team’s 41 ground balls on the afternoon. Tony LaGuerre, Bryce Cerreillo, Mike Donoghue, and Kevin Sainte all chipped in with one goal apiece, and Matt Dalton grabbed a team-high eight ground balls.
The visitors came out firing early with a Doten goal just over four minutes into the game and Patinkin put the Beavers up 2-0 midway through the first after slipping past his defender. The Pride quickly responded, with Lynch rebounding a missed goal for an easy putback in front of the net to cut the lead in half. Murphy would tie things up at two early after taking a nice pass from Giannelli into the zone on a transition play.
After the early back and forth, it was all Babson for the rest of the first half, as the Beavers went into the break leading 9-3. The 8-1 spurt was fueled by Patinkin’s second and third goals and capped with a spinning strike from Barsalou with less than a minute left in the second frame.
Springfield shifted the momentum quickly out of the intermission, clawing its way back into the contest throughout the third period. Boss scored off a Serreillo assist less than a minute into the third to set the tone. Springfield then added three more goals in a span of two and a half minutes, as Sainte, Boss, and LaGuerre brought the Pride back within two at 9-7 with five minutes left in the period.
The play of the game would cap off a brilliant third period from the hosts, as the Pride got the ball out in transition with less than 10 seconds left on the clock. Colby Verge fired a pass up field to Lynch, who moved it ahead quickly to Boss. Babson goalie James Whalen started towards Boss, who flicked an easy pass to Murphy for the wide-open score as the home crowd erupted.
Babson held the one goal lead at 10-9 with less than 11 minutes to go in the game, but it was Springfield’s second-half surge that would decide the Pilgrim League regular season crown. Murphy tied the game at 10 and Lynch put Springfield ahead for good with a leaping goal midway through the fourth. Donoghue and Boss tacked on two insurance goals for the Pride, and that ended up being the difference in the 13-11 win. Springfield outscored Babson 10-2 in the second half, including the 5-0 third.
Springfield outshot the visitors 36-29, held a 15-12 edge in faceoffs, and scooped up 41 ground balls to Babson’s 34. Whalen finished with eight saves in the loss for the Beavers, while Connor Nash came in to earn the win in the second half, posting fours and surrendering just two goals.
