Boston - Men's lacrosse got back on track under the Clemente Field lights on Wednesday night as a dominant performance from senior captain
Cole Cloney lifted the team to a 12-6 victory over visiting NEC. The Saints (4-4, 4-1) only trailed for 1:01 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) bout as a solid performance from start to finish got them their fourth conference victory as we reach the midway point of the season.
It was the Pilgrims who got the scoring underway on Wednesday night, as Shane Helman took a feed from Brody McGonigle and found the back of the net, giving NEC what would be its only lead of the night.
After that, the
Cole Cloney show got underway as he ripped a shot from 15 yards out to knot the scoring at one. That would be the first of three goals in the first frame from Cloney, all of them unassisted. This gave the Saints a 3-2 advantage heading into the second period.
In the second, Cloney became more of a facilitator to the offense, as he set up the only two goals in the quarter. First finding senior
Chase Greenlaw, then later finding junior
Brandon Shuman. The Emmanuel defense stood tall, not allowing a single goal in the period as the home team held a 5-2 advantage at the break.
As the second half got underway, both teams' offenses kicked it into a different gear as seven total goals were scored in the third frame. NEC got back on the board in the 13th minute, cutting the lead to just two goals, but it was quickly followed by two more goals from the Saints as Shuman and senior
Ethan Madura each tallied one. Cloney was also able to get his fourth of the night, as he dodged the defense and fired one right over the right shoulder of the opposing goalie with just over two minutes to play in the quarter to make it 9-4.
The fourth quarter was just the Saints putting the cherry on top of their fourth conference win, Cloney scored two more goals, one with a man up, to tie his career-high of six goals in the match. First year
Kellen Connor also netted the second goal of his collegiate career as Emmanuel ran away with the 12-6 victory.
Cloney's career day led the Saints, as he finished with six goals and three assists. Connor chipped in a goal and an assist, and Shuman notched two goals as well. Sophomore goaltender
Colby Enos tallied 13 saves and the win.
Up Next:
The Saints will continue GNAC play when they travel to New London, New Hampshire to take on Colby-Sawyer on Saturday afternoon. The conference tilt will get underway at 1:00 PM.
