BOSTON, Mass. – Led by the tournament's Most Outstanding Player Gavin Admirand (Marshfield, Mass.), Beacons lacrosse made history Saturday afternoon at James Cotter Field as they defeated the third-seed WestConn by the final of 14-13 to earn the program's first-ever Little East Conference Tournament title.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 14, WestConn 13

#1 UMass Boston (9-0)
#3 WestConn (6-3)

HOW IT HAPPENED

With Saturday's win, the Beacons cap-off the first undefeated regular season and conference tournament in program history.  Along with their 4-0 record from the 2020 campaign, the Beacons have now won 13-straight which is tied for second longest win-streak behind the 1996-97 teams.

The Beacons will find out who their first-ever NCAA Tournament opponent will be tomorrow evening, when the NCAA hosts their annual selection show at 9 pm on NCAA.com.

UMass Boston's historic championship win was made possible by a 3-0 run to start the fourth quarter.  Tied at 11-11, Admirand led an offensive surge that saw him find the back of the net twice, while Donovan Prozinski (Ashland, Mass.) added a goal of his in a four-minute span.

From there the Beacons defense neutralized WestConn's attack until the final four minutes of regulation.  Things got extremely close when Trey Aronow and Eric Caldwell combined to make it a one-goal affair with just under two minutes to play.

WestConn's James Bringman would win the face-off after his team made it a one-goal affair.  They would then put a shot just wide of the goal, which resulted in the Beacons gaining possession.

UMass Boston would bring the ball up the length of the field and in doing so would also earn the game's only extra man opportunity.  As time continued to count down, WestConn thought they had one more shot to tie the contest, following a Beacons turnover.  However, they were unable to clear the ball successfully giving possession back to the Beacons with 12 seconds left on the clock.

UMass Boston would run out the final seconds as they rushed the field to celebrate the program's first-ever title.

Saturday's championship was a back-and-forth battle from the opening face-off.  For the first time all season, the Beacons trailed at halftime on their home field, as WestConn led 9-6 after two quarters of play. 

The Beacons cut away at the deficit in the third as they outscored WestConn 5-2.  Five different players found the back of the cage in the crucial quarter with Admirand scoring his second of what would be a five goal affair for the junior.  Jackson Whitlock (Amherst, Mass.) quarterbacked the Beacons attack in the third as he netted one goal, while also assisting on two others.

Jack Dobrzynski (West Greenwich, R.I.) had a solid day as the Beacons only face-off man.  The senior finished 23-for-31 and had 17 ground balls. 

Defensively the Beacons recorded a combined 12 caused turnovers to make it the fourth straight game with 10 or more CT's. 

Between the pipes, Christian Meinhold (Boxborough, Mass.) and his WestConn counterpart Perry Cassidy were solid all afternoon.  Meinhold made 19 saves, while Cassidy finished with 15 stops.

Caldwell led WestConn's attack with two goals and four assists.  Timothy Yannucci, was the only player for WestConn to record a hat trick. 

 BY THE NUMBERS

• Junior Darragh Fahey (Walpole, Mass.) became the newest member of the 100-point club following Saturday's win, along with Admirand.  The duo now have a combine 104 and 105 career points
• Meinhold now stands at 4-0 on the season
• With Saturday's performance Dobrzynski sits with 397 career face-off wins and now has 205 face-off wins this season
• Dobrzynski now holds the single season and career face-off wins record at UMass Boston
• WestConn held a slim 48-46 advantage in shots
• The Beacons were 23-for-29 on clear attempts, while WestConn went 27-for-31
• UMass Boston dominated the ground balls with a 42-26 advantage
• The Beacons entered the contest ranked ninth on the most recent NCAA Regional poll
• All-time the Beacons are now 10-11 against WestConn and have won seven straight
• UMass Boston was making their third appearance in the LEC Championship game and first since 2017
• WestConn was making their second appearance, with their first coming in 2008 when they won the program's first-ever championship

WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will find out who they will face in the first round of the NCAA Tournament tomorrow evening at 9 p.m. on NCAA.com.