Box Score DARTMOUTH, Mass. -- Junior Jeff Wenzel (Medway, Mass.) scored a career-high seven goals, as UMass Dartmouth overcame a two-goal third quarter deficit by collecting the final seven tallies of the contest to notch a 12-7 non-league college men's lacrosse victory over Wheaton Saturday afternoon at Cressy Field.
The host Corsairs (1-3) took a 3-2 first quarter advantage on Wenzel's man-up marker with 5:16 to go in the frame, but the visiting Lyons (3-2) accounted for all three goals in the second stanza to grab a 5-3 edge at the break before freshman Shane Ross (Hanson, Mass.) extended that margin to three with a man-up tally 3:45 after intermission. Wheaton held a 7-5 advantage with 6:18 remaining in the third quarter, but Wenzel evened matters for UMass Dartmouth with 10:54 to play in the match before senior Donovan Prozinski (Ashland, Mass.) gave the hosts the lead for good 1:21 later. The Corsairs collected four more goals in the last 9:22 of action to account for the final margin, as the triumph was UMass Dartmouth's first over Wheaton in six years and the fourth in 13 series meetings between the two schools.
Wenzel added an assist to finish with eight points in the win for the Corsairs, who received a goal and two assists from senior Mike Rizzo (Bridgewater, Mass.) along with a marker and helper each from Prozinski and juniors Sawyer Gibbons (Sandwich, Mass.) & Tim Jordan (Sandwich, Mass.). Sophomore Kevin Swenson (Ipswich, Mass.) also tallied for the hosts, who received assists off the sticks of sophomore Zak Wirsen (Bourne, Mass.) and freshman Stephen Kolodko (Woburn, Mass.).
Ross finished with a pair of goals and an assist for three points in the setback for the Lyons, who received two tallies from sophomore Alec Morin (Belmont, Mass.) as well as a marker and helper each off the sticks of junior Mike Abramo (Old Bethpage, N.Y.) and sophomore Lou Mainella (Falmouth, Maine).
Senior Ted McCaffery (Pepperell, Mass.) picked up the win in goal with a 13 save effort for UMass Dartmouth, while senior Chandler Miller (West Linn, Ore.) made 18 stops on the day for Wheaton. The Corsairs outshot the Lyons by a 39-30 margin overall and forced 20 turnovers for the contest.
UMass Dartmouth will be idle until Wednesday, March 18th when the Corsairs host Emerson in a non-league outing at Cressy Field beginning at 6:00 pm, while Wheaton travels to Henniker, N.H. on Wednesday afternoon for a non-conference clash with New England College that begins at 4:00 pm.
(Photo Credit: Bridget Bagana '22)
