(Courtesy of Western Connecticut Sports Information)

Southern Maine Pulls Away in Second Half, Downs Western Conn.

            DANBURY, Conn. -- With the score tied 3-3 at halftime, the University of Southern Maine men's lacrosse team outscored Little East Conference rival Western Connecticut State University 7-2 in the third quarter, on the way to a 15-8 win over the Colonials Saturday afternoon at the Westside Athletic Complex.

            Leading the Western offensive effort was senior Nate Wilson (Norwich, Conn.) with four goals and two assists, followed by senior Jesse Beatty (Redding, Conn.) who added two goals and handed out two assists.

            For Southern Maine, sophomore Nate DelGiudice (Oakland, Maine) led all scorers with five goals.  Junior Seth Wing (West Gardiner, Maine) had four goals and three assists, senior Jaymz McStowe (Plymouth, Mass.) scored two goals, and junior Keegan Smith (West Gardiner, Maine) had two goals and one assist for the Huskies.

            After more than 12 minutes of scoreless play, Wilson gave Western a 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal with 2:46 remaining in the first quarter.

            Southern Maine responded with two goals in the final minute and a half of the period to take a 2-1 lead after one quarter of play.

            A pair of man-up goals gave Western a 3-2 lead midway through the second quarter, but a goal by McStowe evened things at 3-3.  The score remained tied going into the locker room at intermission.

            Southern Maine dominated play over the first 10 minutes of the third quarter, which proved to be the difference in the game.  With three goals by DelGiudice and one from Smith, the Huskies assumed a 7-3 lead.  An unassisted goal by Wilson with four minutes remaining in the quarter made the score 7-4.

            A 3-1 run by Southern Maine to close out the quarter gave the visitors a 10-5 lead heading into the fourth quarter.  Wing scored the first two USM goals, and DelGiudice added the third with 12 seconds to go in the quarter.

            Wilson scored a man-up goal with five minutes played in the fourth, but goals from DelGiudice and senior Austin Watts (Westbrook, Maine) extended the lead to 12-6.

            The teams traded goals over the next four minutes for a 14-8 Southern Maine lead, and with one minute remaining, Watts scored to make the final margin 15-8.

            For the game, Southern Maine held a 47-34 advantage in shots, and a 34-20 edge in ground balls.  Western's starting keeper junior Patrick Tynan (Somers, Conn.) made 14 saves, but suffers the loss.  Sophomore Zach Bessette (Readfield, Maine) also made 14 saves to pick up the win for Southern Maine.

            With the loss, Western falls to 2-11 on the season and 1-4 in the Little East Conference.  Southern Maine improves to 7-5 overall and 2-3 in the LEC.

            The Colonials return to action on Tuesday (7:00 p.m.) when they travel to play LEC rival University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.  Southern Maine hosts Plymouth State University on Tuesday (4:00 p.m.).

-30-