UMass Boston Lacrosse Cruises To Conference Win over Salem State

SALEM, Mass. – Nick Weiss (Westfield, Mass.) and Matthew Duggan (Weymouth, Mass.) each scored three goals as lacrosse cruised to a 10-4 Little East Conference win over Salem State University Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field.

THE BASICS
UMass Boston 10, Salem State University 4
UMass Boston (11-4, 3-2 Little East Conference)
Salem State U. (5-9, 0-5 Little East Conference)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Leading the Beacons attack in Saturday's huge conference win was Conor Smith who collected two goals to go along with three assists.  The Beacons continue to sit tied for third place in the conference standings alongside Plymouth State with only week remaining in the regular season.

Weiss put UMass Boston on the scoreboard first, with a goal 10 minutes into the first period. Salem
State countered as Jacob Scordato scored his 18th goal of the season to even the game at 1-1.

In the second, Bobby Bourgeois temporarily gave Salem State the lead before Conor Smith tallied the equalizer for the Beacons. Duggan then scored consecutive goals, including man-up tally, to close out the second quarter to give UMass Boston a 4-2 halftime lead.  The Beacons dominated the first 30 minutes of play as they outshot their conference rivals 20-5, but were held to just the four scores by Vikings goalie Kevin Lally.

Calvin Lee (Hopkinton, Mass.) sparked a huge second half run for the Beacons, as they outscored Salem State 6-2 over the final 30 minutes.

Despite a pair of goals by the Vikings to make it a one-goal affair, the Beacons were never panicked, as Duggan quickly responded to give his squad some breathing room.  That deciding marker came with just one second remaining in the third to make it 6-4 UMB.

The Beacons pulled away in the fourth and never looked back as they scored four times, while Craig Frehill (Norwell, Mass.) and his defense did not surrender a goal in the final frame.  Smith and Lee each scored once, with Weiss also finding the back of the net twice.

Frehill closed out the victory with 13 saves as he improved to 9-4 on the season.  Phil Truong (Quincy, Mass.) finished with a game-high eight ground balls, and was 11-for-17 on the face-off dot.  Duggan collected seven groundballs, while Anthony Tortora (Medford, Mass.) led the team with three caused turnovers.

BY THE NUMBERS

• UMass Boston outshot Salem State 32-17 for the game
• Lally stopped 22 saves in the loss, as he dropped to 3-9 on the year.
• UMass has now won three of their last four meetings with the Vikings.
• The Beacons 11 wins now ties them for second most all-time alongside the 2005, 1997, and 1993 teams

WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will travel to Eastern Connecticut State University on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. conference game.
Information for this release provided by Salem State University Sports Information Department