Box Score
BOSTON, Mass. – Led by a career-high 10 points (7g, 3a) by Zach Brown, the Vikings of Salem State University defeated men's lacrosse by the final of 16-13 Saturday afternoon in the Little East Conference opener for both teams at Boston College High School.
Brown's day carried the Vikings to their fifth straight victory, and first win over the Beacons since the 2011 season as they improved to 5-2, 1-0 in the LEC. For the Beacons fell to 4-4, 0-1 in conference play following Saturday's loss.
UMass Boston came out firing in Saturday's conference game, with Noah Ellis (Hingham, Mass.) firing off three of the Beacons four first quarter tallies. However, a six goal second by the Vikings put them in front 8-5 heading into the halftime break.
After the intermission, the Vikings jumped on Brown's shoulders and never looked back. Salem State would never lose control of their lead scoring five goals in the third and three more in the fourth to seal the victory.
For the Beacons they would try to battle back, but their biggest push of the contest, which came late in the fourth quarter, was countered by a three-goal flurry by Salem State to push the game out of reach.
The two teams were equally matched throughout Saturday's contest, with the Vikings holding a 47-36 advantage in shots. They would also hold a +1 advantage in ground balls (42-41). On the face-off "X" All-Conference selection Nate Staples was solid all afternoon as he won 18 of Salem State's 20 face-offs. Phil Truong (Quincy, Mass.) totaled 12 face-off victories in the loss.
Between the pipes Craig Frehill (Norwell, Mass.) and AJ Collette (West Springfield, Mass.) were busy all afternoon, as the duo combined for 18 saves respectively. For the Vikings, they saw Dylan Svenson quarterback the defense with his 11 stops to improve to 5-2 on the year.
Ellis would go on to finish with four goals, while Donny Delpha (Walpole, Mass.) recorded one goal and three assists.
Truong and Sean LeBlanc (Marshfield, Mass.) would lead the Beacons in ground balls with seven each, while Tim Milch (Marshfield, Mass.) and LeBlanc each recorded a game-high four caused turnovers. Both players also did some work in the offensive end, as LeBlanc tallied his second goal of the year, while Milch assisted on the Beacons 12th goal, which at the time made it a one-score affair.
The Beacons wasted little time getting on the scoreboard against the Vikings, as Ellis found the back of the cage off of a Delpha feed less than four minutes into the opening quarter. Delpha would then make it a two-goal game less than four minutes later on an unassisted play.
Brown got his team on the board around the midway point of the quarter, but the Beacons closed out the first with another two goals, both from Ellis to head into the second with a 4-1 lead and all the momentum in their corner.
Unfortunately, Ben Melaugh would spark a Vikings run that would catch the Beacons defense by total surprise. Salem State would score five unanswered goals to make it 7-4 with 3:46 to play before the half.
Senior Ryan McGoff (Charlestown, Mass.) tried to stop the bleeding with his 14th goal of the year at 3:10, but with another tally by Melaugh to close out the second, the Vikings found themselves in the driver's seat heading into the third.
Brown would start off the scoring in the third, but with a goal by Michael Kennedy (Hudson, Mass.) and John Powers (Marshfield, Mass.), the Beacons cut the Vikings lead to two (9-7) with plenty of time to play.
UMass would see Joseph Cunningham (Hudson, Mass.) and Nick Tangherlini (Cohasset, Mass.) each score one, but with two goals from Brown and Alex Pearsons, the Vikings headed into the final 15 minutes of play with a 13-9 lead.
The Beacons attack found their rhythm early in the fourth with LeBlanc, McGoff, and Ellis combing for UMass' first three goals to make it 13-12 Salem State with 9:40 to play. However the Vikings top three scorers (Brown, Melaugh, and Pearsons) would drive home three straight goals to counter the Beacons run to make it 16-12 with 2:48 to play.
Tangherlini would own the final Beacons goal of the contest to make it 16-13.
Lacrosse returns to action on Wednesday when they travel to Wheaton College (Mass.) for a 4 p.m. non-conference game.
