MILTON, Mass. – Junior Zel Kerkel (Loudon, N.H.) made a career-high 19 saves but Plymouth State University fell to Curry College, 11-7, in a non-conference men's lacrosse game at Walter M. Kratz Field on Thursday afternoon.
With the setback the Panthers fall to 1-2, while Curry evens its record at 2-2.
In a back-and-forth game, the Colonels struck for six straight goals between the third and fourth quarters to take control. PSU had pulled in front, 6-5, after freshman Connor Delea (Manchester, N.H.) notched his second of the game, and sixth goal in the last two games, with 4:20 left in the third. Curry responded with the next six tallies, three each in the third and fourth quarters, before PSU tacked on a final goal in the last minute of play to account for the 11-7 final.
The Colonels took the lead midway through the opening quarter when junior MJ Urbano (Wakefield, Mass.) scored at the 7:39 mark. PSU countered with a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead after the opening 15 minutes. Junior Paul Luongo (Northborough, Mass.) scored his second of the year to tie the game with 3:00 left in the quarter, and junior Jake Burns (Salem, N.H.) added his second of the year to give the Panthers the lead.
Curry scored twice in the first five minutes of the second quarter to pull back in front, 3-2, but Delea tied the game with his first goal of the afternoon with 4:08 left in the half. Urbano gave the Colonels a 4-3 lead at the break when he scored with just under three minutes left in the half.
Sophomore Griffin Jacobson (Windham, Maine) tied the game for the Panthers 4:55 into the third quarter, but sophomore Jake Stebbins (Colchester, Vt.) gave the home team a one-goal advantage five minutes later. Luongo netted his second of the game to even the score once again, and Delea's goal 12 seconds later gave Plymouth State the 6-5 lead, setting up Curry's run to pull away.
Jacobson and Luongo each tallied a pair of goals, while Delea added two goals and an assist. Burns chipped in with a goal and an assist. Sophomore Charlie Harrington (Walpole, Mass.) and senior Kyle Stockman (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) led the Panthers with four ground balls each, while senior Lucas McCue (Brunswick, Maine) scooped up three. Junior Casey Elkins (Stow, Mass.) forced a team-high three Colonels' turnovers. Kerkel made a career-high 19 stops but suffered the loss to fall to 1-2.
Urbano led all scorers with three goals for Curry, as senior Tom Cashin (Boxford, Mass.) added two goals and two assists. Cashin also led all players with six ground balls. Junior Josh Teller (Milford, Conn.) made 13 saves.
Curry outshot the Panthers 41-29 for the game, with most of the difference coming in the second quarter as the home team fired 15 shots to PSU's five.
Plymouth State travels to Castleton University on Sunday (Mar. 18) for a 1:00 p.m., non-conference game with the Spartans.