Scahill Nets Hat Trick in Men's Lacrosse's Loss to MIT

Recap, photo courtesy of Curry College

MILTON, Mass. – The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)  outscored Curry College 7-3 in the second half to post a 15-10 victory in a non-conference men's lacrosse match-up on Thursday afternoon at Walter M. Katz Field.

Junior Jack Strachan (Moresville, N.C.) led all scorers with five goals and one assist to pace the Engineers, who improved to 1-2 overall on the season. Freshman James Santoro (Tewksbury, Mass.) also added a hat trick and one assist. Sophomores Mark Heatzig (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Luke Gianni (Henderson, Nev.) added two goals apiece while three others added one each to round out the scoring. Freshman goalie Luckas Drexler-Bruce (Denver, Colo.) made eight saves to earn the victory in goal. Gianni was a force at the face-off spot, winning 18 of 28 draws taken in the contest.

Sophomore Matthew Scahill (Gales Ferry, Conn.) netted a hat trick to lead the Colonels (1-3 overall). Juniors Kyle Ton (Norwich, Conn.) and Cameron Nigro (Scarborough, Maine) added two markers apiece. Junior Andrew DeLeary (Wakefield, Mass.), senior MJ Urbano (Wakefield, Mass.), and senior Devin Newell (Medford, Mass.) each pitched in a goal each to round out the scoring. Urbano also tallied an assist in the contest.

MIT opened the game with two straight goals, one each from sophomore Oliver Heins (Fair Haven, N.J.) and Gianni. The goals came just nine seconds apart. Nigro got Curry on the board with a strike with 9:50 remaining in the opening quarter. The Engineers put together another two-goal spurt, this time from Santoro and junior Aidan Westley (Palos Verdes, Calif.), both unassisted, to give MIT a 4-1 advantage. The Colonels broke the mini-run with a man-up marker from DeLeary with 3:05 remaining in the stanza as the goal cut the Engineer lead to 4-2 at the end of one.

Curry started the second quarter with a goal from Scahill 3:46 into the frame to make the score 4-3 in favor of MIT. The Engineers answered back with back-to-back goals, one each from freshman Liam Miller (Pasadena, Calif.) and Strachan to push the lead back up to three at 6-3. The Miller goal was set up by freshman Jack Montinaro (Riverside, Conn.). The Colonels got one goal back at the 9:35 mark of the quarter from Newell with the assist going to junior Jake Stebbins (Colchester, Vt.). Curry then used a 3-0 run to knot the game at seven behind goals from Scahill, Ton (man-up), and Nigro. With three seconds left, Gianni scored to send MIT into the half with an 8-7 advantage.

The Engineers outscored the Colonels 2-1 in the third quarter. Curry started the half with a goal from Ton, which was cashed in with 10:27 remaining on the clock. MIT used another series of back-to-back goals, one each from Heatzig and Santoro to give the Engineers a 10-8 advantage heading into the fourth.

The Engineers scored the first two goals of the final period to take its biggest lead at 13-8. Strachan got the run started with a man-up tally with 9:14 to go in regulation. Heatzig pitched in another while Strachan capped the spurt with a marker coming off an assist from Miller. The Colonels made a late push, adding two goals in 57 seconds. Curry's goals were scored by Urbano and Scahill to cut the deficit to three, 13-10. Strachan and Santoro each tallied one in the final 1:27 to send MIT home with the 15-10 victory.

The teams finished deadlocked 36 shots apiece. The Engineers had a 39-21 advantage in ground balls. Gianni finished with 11 while two others finished with four. Drexler-Bruce made eight saves in between the pipes to record the victory.

 Curry freshman goalie Bobby Cannan (Bernardsville, N.J.) finished 10 saves. Junior Matthew Lemay (Raynham, Mass.) picked up four ground balls to lead the team.

Curry will next play at Skidmore College on Monday, March 11 at 2:00 p.m. MIT returns to action for its home opener against the University of New England on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.