AMCATS fall to Lyndon State in Buzzer Beater Final

PAXTON, Mass. – The Anna Maria College men's lacrosse team fell to the Hornets of Lyndon State College by a final score of 7-6 on Saturday afternoon. The AMCATS drop to 2-3 on the season while the Hornets improve to a 2-1 overall record.

AMCAT LEADERS

Freshman Kurt Richardson (Narragansett, R.I.) led the AMCATS with four points from two goals and two assists on the day. Freshmen Kyle Benning (Puyallup, Wash.) and Brandon Pavoni (Granby, Mass.) each recorded two points from two goals apiece. Pavoni also led with a team high five ground balls.

Freshman Tre Demers (Granby, Mass.) won a game high five-of-nine face offs.

Sophomore goaltender Paul Schwarz (Staten Island, N.Y.) had 12 saves in the loss for the AMCATS.

HORNET LEADERS

Sophomore Shea Jones led Lyndon State with three goals to go along with two caused turnovers in the victory. Junior Ian Pelkey posted three points from one goal and two assists. Anthony Altermatt, Zachary Carey, and Marcus Bessette all collected four ground balls. Altermatt won three-of-seven face-offs for the visitors.

Marcus Bersette earned the win in net for Lyndon State, playing 30 minutes and recording two saves. Bersette is now 1-0 on the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Anna Maria got on the board first with a goal from Richardson off of a pass from Tim Harrington (Chicopee, Mass.) just two minutes into play.  Lyndon State tied the game at 1-1 with 9:30 on the clock with a goal from junior Logan Parenti. The AMCATS quickly regained the lead just one minute later as Richardson found Benning from the top of the box and Benning snuck on by starting goaltender, Shane Morin (2-1).

Pelkey and Jones recorded back to back goals with 11:43 to play before the half time break to take a 3-2 lead. The AMCATS tied it back up on another Benning, Richardson combination at the 4:54 mark (3-3). With one second to play before the half Anna Maria took the 4-3 lead following a quick goal from Pavoni.

Pavoni added another goal at the start of the second half and sophomore Ryan Rockwal (Chicopee, Mass.) notched a goal immediately after to give the AMCATS their largest lead of the game (6-3). The game remained scoreless for another 13 minutes but Lyndon State broke the silence with a goal from Shae in a man-up opportunity at the 13:36 mark in the fourth quarter (6-4). The Hornets closed the gap to one goal as Spencer Aubin scored with 10:24 to play and tied it up five minutes later as Carey put one behind Schwarz off of a pass from Pelkey in another man-up situation (6-6).

With a minute left to play Lyndon State had possession of the ball. Jones wound up for a shot with seven second left that went wide. The Hornets recovered the ball and Jones buried the winning goal with just one second on the clock to take the final 7-6 victory.  

WHAT'S NEXT?

The AMCATS travel to Emerson on Wednesday, March 15 for a 6:00 p.m. non-conference match-up. The Hornets travel to Wheelock on the same day for a 7:00 p.m. contest.