Box Score
WENHAM, Mass.—The Gordon College Men's Lacrosse team kicked off their 2014 season with one of the toughest opponents they'll play all year. The visiting Pride of Springfield College used a seven-goal outburst in the third period to pull away from the Fighting Scots and notch a 20-9 victory on Thursday evening.
 
After two days of shuffling dates and sites due to overlapping snowstorms, Gordon and Springfield were finally able to compete in their annual early-season matchup. Surrounded by walls of snow on all four sides of the field, Gordon jumped out to the early lead on a beautiful goal by Jake Martin (Watertown, Conn.). Martin took the exchange from transfer Michael Utz (Rochester, N.Y.) and buried the first score of the game only 45 ticks into the first quarter.
 
Springfield did not take very long to retaliate, as veteran midfield Colby Verge (Derry, N.H.) tucked the ball inside the post off a pass from Ryon Lynch (Frederick, Md.). Lynch would not score a goal himself, but he would finish with a game-high five assists on the day.
 
Gordon would again take the lead at the 10:32 mark in the first quarter on an advantage goal by Jordan Heckelmann (Colorado Springs, Colo.). Martin found Heckelmann wide open in front of the goal, who bumped the ball mid-air past keeper Robert Maher (Katonah, N.Y.) for the 2-1 lead.
 
Ryan Murphy (Mansfield, Mass.) and Brendan Boss (West Springfield, Mass.) each added unassisted goals in the final 10 minutes of the period, as the Pride took a 3-2 lead into the second quarter.
 
Kevin Freeman (Minisink, N.Y.) and Tony LaGuerre (Shrub Oak, N.Y.) went on a tear for the Pride to begin the second quarter. Both midfielders struck with two goals each in a three-minute period at the very start of the quarter. Dylan Sheehan (Massapequa, N.Y.) added a fifth goal of the quarter for the Pride to cap off a seven-goal run with 9:31 remaining until the half.
 
The Scots responded with three consecutive goals of their own to end the half. Roger Evans (Oxford, Pa.) began the goal parade with an unassisted goal off a Pride turnover at the 7:52 mark in the second. Senior Dom Dantona (Syosset, N.Y.) made a nice defensive play at midfield and cradled the ball all the way to the goal himself to make it an 8-4 game.
 
Freshman Thor Rasmussen (Fairfax, Va.) added his first collegiate goal with four minutes to play in the first half on an unassisted goal from the right side of the field. Rasmussen shook his defender off in front of the crease and shot the ball past Maher into the web on the left side of the net.
 
Springfield lived up to their status as a team just outside of the preseason Top 25 with seven goals in the third quarter. Devin Abad (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and Dom Roberto (Malden, Mass.) each added two goals in the period, as the Pride outscored Gordon 7-1 to take a commanding 15-6 lead entering the fourth quarter.
 
The Pride capped off their second seven-goal run of the game with two quick goals to start the fourth quarter and opened up a 17-6 lead. Gordon countered with three consecutive goals of their own, including Martin's second and third goals of the day.
 
Murphy picked up a hat-trick of his own in the final five minutes of the game, as the Pride ended the game on a three-goal run for a 20-9 victory on a cold opening day.
 
Maher and Connor Nash (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) each picked up eight saves in goal for the Pride. Nash spelled Maher at the start of the second half and only relinquished four balls into the back of the net. Maher picked up the win as the starter.
 
Cody Greenwald (Albany, N.Y.) took the loss, while making 12 saves against a resilient Pride attacking half.
 
The Scots will look to rebound next Saturday when SUNY Cobleskill travels to Wenham for a 2 p.m. face-off.
 
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Gordon College is a multi-denominational Christian college of the liberal arts and sciences on Boston's North Shore, offering majors in 36 fields with graduate programs in education and music education. Gordon is nationally recognized for excellence in academics and in character building, and ranks as one of the nation's top Christian colleges. www.gordon.edu