Box Score LEICESTER, Mass. – Emerson College held on for a 13-12 victory over Becker College in non-conference men's lacrosse action Wednesday afternoon at Alumni Field. The win lifts the Lions record to 4-5 while the Hawks fall to 2-5.
Emerson got on the board 2:22 into the game on Andre Romano's (Sarasota, Fla.) 24th goal of the season. The Hawks answered 3:14 later when Avyay Chaganty (Bridgewater, N.J.) connected with Daniel Johnson (Plymouth, Mass.) for his 13th maker of the season.
Becker took their first lead of the game with 8:09 remaining in the first quarter on an Alex Rossman (Newington, Conn.) goal. The Lions Tied the game one minute later when Nick Vigue (Waterboro, Maine) found the back of the Hawks net.
After Becker's Daniel Johnson broke the 2-2 tie on an assist from Ryan Kearney (Katonah, N.Y.), the Lions closed out the first quarter with an equalizer from Nick Kitsos (Summit, N.J.).
Daniel Johnson netted his third goal of the game just 1:55 into the second quarter to give the Hawks a 4-3 lead. The score remained the same until Nick Kitsos scored back-to-back goals to send Emerson into the break with a 5-4 advantage.
The Lions carried the momentum into the second half, scoring three more unanswered goals to widen their margin to 8-4. Diego Rosende (Plantation, Fla.) scored just 36 seconds into the second half on an assist from Andre Romano. After Nick Kitsos tallied his fourth goal of the game, Calvin Bussiere (Colchester, Conn.) tickled the twine on a man-advantage opportunity to complete the 5-0 run for the lions.
Becker finally answered back with 10:14 left in the third quarter on Alex Rossman's second goal of the game. The Hawks cut the Lions lead to 8-6 just 36 seconds later when Ryan Kearney fed Blake Boutiette's (Burriville, R.I.) for his eighth goal of the season.
Emerson responded with three more unanswered goals, the first one coming on a man-advantage chance from Calvin Bussiere. After Nick Kitsos connected with Conor Judge (Smithfield, R.I.) , Calvin Bussiere completed his hat-trick to give the Lions an 11-6 lead at the end of three quarters.
Becker started chipping away at the deficit 19 seconds into the fourth quarter on Daniel Johnson's fourth goal of the contest. Becker freshman Blake Gordon (East Greenbush, N.Y.) then scored on a pass from Ryan Kearney to shrink the Emerson lead to 11-8.
With 11:19 remaining in regulation, Andrew Romano gave the Lions a bit of breathing room when he scorched a shot into the Becker net.
The Hawks refused to go down easy as Daniel Johnson and Blake Gordon scored a pair of unanswered goals to pull the hosts within two.
Peter Negri (Falmouth, Mass.) scored what proved to be the eventual game winner with 6:01 left on the clock on a pass from Nick Kitsos.
Becker threatened with late goals from Blake Boutiette and Daniel Johnson, but the Lions were able to hold on for the 13-12 thriller.
Emerson goalie Evan Greene (Los Angeles, Calif.) earned the victory after turning away 11 shots while Jeffrey Candee (Madison, Conn.) made 12 saves in the loss.
Both teams will resume league action on Saturday, April 4 at 1:00 p.m. Becker will travel to NECC rival Mitchell College while Emerson hosts NEWMAC foe Wheaton College.
