Box Score DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The Corsairs registered at least three goals in every quarter on Saturday, as UMass Dartmouth men's lacrosse earned its first win of the 2016 season, downing Norwich 13-8 at Cressy Field.
UMass Dartmouth nearly doubled the Cadets' shots on the day, firing 42 to the visitors' 26. Senior Bo Prozinski (Ashland, Mass.) registered a game-high five goals, upping his season total to nine in only two games. Classmate Steve Merrick (Methuen, Mass.) tabulated two goals on the afternoon and six other Corsairs netted a single goal including senior Alex Lucas (Brookfield, Mass.), who dished out three assists.
Eight different Cadets recorded in the scoring column, with senior Ryan McCarthy (Medford, Mass.) posting three assists to go along with a goal. In goal, freshman Ian Kriger (Burlington, Mass.) tuned in a solid day with 12 saves.
The Corsairs got on the board with two goals out of the gate for a lead that would hold for all 60 minutes. Sophomore DJ Miller (Ashland, Mass.) netted the first goal of the contest at 2:23 off an assist from Lucas followed by an unassisted tally from Prozinski.
Norwich's Nolan Aurelia (Stratford, Conn.) gave the Cadets their first goal at 9:58, but UMass Dartmouth's Zach Drolette (Burlington, Vt.) upped the Corsair lead back to two. At 13:08, sophomore Josh Jenkins (Centennial, Colo.) put Norwich back within a goal to close the first quarter.
Prozinski then potted three of the Corsairs' four goals in the second quarter as Norwich was able to put in only two scores. Miller assisted on Prozinski's first of the stanza, while freshman Zach Walker (Andover, Mass.) registered the first tally of his Corsair career on another Miller helper. Cadet Connor Loughran (Stowe, Vt.) cut the UMass Dartmouth halftime advantage to 7-3 with less than a minute left in the period.
Out of the break, UMass Dartmouth continued to ride the momentum from the previous stanza as Merrick, Prozinski and senior Andrew Johnson (Hopkinton, Mass.) put the only three goals of the third quarter on the board.
The Cadets found a spark in the final 15 minutes, registering four goals to UMass Dartmouth's three, but the Corsair lead was too much to overcome. McCarthy assisted on Nick Imbriani's (Foxboro, Mass.) goal at 3:16 and then posted a man-up score at 6:40 to cut the margin to 11-6, but Merrick and Lucas responded with the next two tallies. Norwich senior Jimmy Warden (North Andover, Mass.) and sophomore Matt Thresher (Somers, Conn.) netted the last two scores to put the final mark at 13-8.
All three Corsair goalkeepers saw 20 minutes in goal, with junior Scott Spangenberg (Dover, Conn.) earning the win as the starter with two saves. Sophomore Kyle Taylor (Raynham, Mass.) secured three saves on the day, while junior Matt LaFond (Bridgewater, Mass.) turned aside two shots. The back line effort was anchored by Johnson, who picked up seven ground balls while causing two turnovers.
UMass Dartmouth is back at Cressy Field on Wednesday as they host Mount Ida at 4 p.m., while Norwich will seek its first win of the season at SUNY Maritime tomorrow at 1 p.m.
