HAWKS STUN PRIDE IN OT-THRILLER, 9-8

WESTON, Mass. – Becker College scored five goals in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter to erase an 8-3 deficit, and Avyay Chaganty (Bridgewater, N.J.) scored the game winner 1:09 into overtime to lead the Hawks to a stunning 9-8 victory over Regis College on Saturday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference men's lacrosse action.

The Pride wraps up the regular season at 8-5 overall and 1-2 in the NECC, while Becker improves to 6-8 and 2-1 in league games. The two teams will meet next Wednesday in the NECC Semifinals hosted by Becker with game time to be determined.

In a pregame ceremony the Pride honored their four seniors in Alex Graf (Newton, Mass.), Axel Acosta (Hamden, Conn.), Nick Dallas (Huntington Beach, Calif.), and Peter Leighton (Wilmington, Mass.) for their contributions to Regis College and its athletic department.

Daniel Johnson (Plymouth, Mass.) gave the Hawks a quick 2-0 lead in the opening quarter after scoring on the fastbreak and then receiving a pass from Blake Gordon (East Greenbush, N.Y.) for a crank shot from 15 yards out that found the back of the net. The Pride responded at the 5:32 mark on the man advantage as Alex Ferran (Miami, Fla.) hit Nicky Rodrigo (Miami, Fla.) with a pass that led to a low shot and score. Grant Nordlund (Miami, Fla.) knotted the game at 2-2 with his first score of the contest.

The Pride pulled ahead early in the second quarter as Peter Leighton carried the ball up field while Regis was down a man. Leighton passed to a wide open Danny Rancano (Miami, Fla.) on the back side for a goal to put Regis on top 3-2. Nicky Rodrigo added two more tallies in the period to stake the Pride to a 5-2 lead at the break.

Leighton extended the lead to 6-2 with a goal on a nice feed on the goal line from Nordlund before Avyay Chaganty ended the 6-0 run for the Pride scoring on a feed from behind the net from Blake Boutiette (Burrillville, R.I.). Leighton would score the final goal of the third quarter off a pass from Calvin Brault (Colchester, Vt.) to give the Pride a 7-3 lead after three quarters.

With 11:57 to play in regulation, Ferran snuck a bounce shot inside the near post to give the Pride their largest lead of the game at 8-3. Both offenses went cold over the next seven minutes until Boutiette scored on a pass from Matthew Genkos (Worcester, Mass.) at the 4:31 mark made it an 8-4 game. After a Regis penalty, Chaganty scored on the man advantage on a crank shot from 15 yards out to cut the deficit to 8-5.

Becker won the ensuing face-off, racing down field on the fastbreak and after some nifty passing, Chaganty found Daniel Johnson for an open goal to make it 8-6. With just over two minutes to play, Cruz Desrochers (Malden, Mass.) backed in his defender on the left side, and shot over his right shoulder, with the ball trickling past the Regis keeper to make it a one goal game.

Becker won the following face-off as well and searched for the equalizer. The Pride's Tyler Estes (Geneva, Ill.) made a save on a Chaganty shot, but Regis could not gain possession back. On the restart, Matthew Genkos curled around to his right and fired a shot opposite post that tied the score at 8-8 with only 1:23 to play.

Estes was forced to make one more stop on Chaganty before time ran out, but neither team had any other chances as the game spilled into overtime.

In the extra frame, Jack O'Brien (Milton, Mass.) won the face-off, but the Pride could not maintain possession as Becker took control at midfield. Boutiette and Johnson both missed wide on shots, and Regis eventually forced a turnover deep in their own end. The Pride's Josh Bazail (Miami, Fla.) scooped up the groundball and tried to flip it to Estes, but Blake Gordon forced a turnover behind the net, and picked up the groundball.

Gordon looked up and found Avyay Chaganty open in front of the net for a wide open goal that sealed the No. 2 seed in the NECC Tournament for Becker with the 9-8 come from behind win.

Becker outshot the Pride at 44-29 clip and picked up 43 groundballs to 37 for Regis. Face-offs were fairly even as the Pride won 11-of-21 face-offs. Jack O'Brien (Milton, Mass.) led Regis with 10 wins, while Joel Clark (Colchester, Vt.) won 10 face-offs for Becker. The Pride lost the turnover battle, 36-27, while going 20-of-24 on clears compared to 16-of-24 for Becker.

Tyler Estes made 20 saves in the setback for the Pride. Anthony Jordan (West Hartford, Conn.) made nine saves for Becker in earning his third win of the year.

Nicky Rodrigo recorded a hat-trick to go with an assist to lead the Pride attack. Peter Leighton added two goals and two assists, with Danny Rancano, Grant Nordlund, and Alex Ferran adding the other goals. Colby Connell (Warwick, R.I.) led the Pride defense with five groundballs, with Bazail adding four groundballs and three caused turnovers. Jack O'Brien also scooped up four groundballs.

Ryan Kearney (Katonah, N.Y.) led all players with a game-high 14 groundballs and five caused turnovers. Daniel Boyd (Fort Myers, Fla.) also caused five turnovers on the day, with Bryan Parsons (Shrewsbury, Mass.) chipping in seven groundballs and three caused turnovers.