WENHAM, Mass.—Eastern Connecticut State handed Gordon its first loss in men's lacrosse action on Saturday, 9-3. The Warriors shut down a Gordon offense that had just 22 goals in its home opener on Wednesday, holding the Fighting Scots to just one goal after the first quarter.
ECSU (1-0) continues its next leg of its five-game road trip to open the season, playing the Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday in New London. Gordon will look to rebound from its first loss of the year when they host Salem State on the same day at 4 p.m. The Scots will look to avenge a loss to the Vikings from last year.
Nick Palandjian (Belmont, Mass.) picked up where he left off on Wednesday, scoring just two and half minutes into the first quarter to put the Scots on top. However, the Warriors countered with three consecutive goals in a seven-minute span. Shawn Tierney (Norwell, Mass.) capitalized on a Gordon penalty to put the first goal of the season in for Eastern and tied the game. Fellow senior Nick Fernandes (Fairfield, Conn.) gave the Warriors their first lead just two minutes later on a nice give-and-go with Matt Rougeot (Cheshire, Conn.).
The Fighting Scots had a chance to tie the game back at two with a man-up opportunity with three and change on the clock, but the Warriors took control of possession and sent a counter back the other way. Gordon was slow marking up in transition and Nick Biasetti (Brookfield, Conn.) made them pay with a man-down goal to make it a 3-1 game.
Palandjian broke a 12-minute scoreless stretch with his second unassisted goal of the game with just 45 seconds to go in the first, but ECSU held the 3-2 lead after one.
The Warriors put another three-spot on the board in second quarter, while holding the Gordon offense silent. Freshman Ed Moran (West Haven, Conn.) scored his first collegiate goal on a feed from Fernandes to start the second quarter. Trevor Ross (Stratford, Conn.) continued the run to make it 5-2 at the midway point of the second quarter.
Gordon was unable to get anything going in the period and a three-goal deficit turned into four goals as Rougeot hit a buzzer beater to end the half.
Offense was even harder to come by in the second half as ECSU tacked on two more in the third quarter, while again holding Gordon scoreless.
Down 8-2, Austin Early (Palmyra, Va.) scored an unassisted goal while diving, but that would be the last goal the Scots would put on the board.
Harrison Urda added a goal with five minutes left for good measure for the visitors.
Both goalies played great games, but Chris Gorman (Shrewsbury, Mass.) picked up the season-opening win with 17 saves and only three goals allowed. Gordon rookie Jay Gallipo (Dover, N.H.) made 18 stops despite the loss.
ECSU held a firm advantage in most stat categories until the final period when Gordon controlled the ball more in its offensive end. The most glaring stat for the Scots was going 0-for-7 in man-up opportunities, while ECSU converted on two.
