Bobcats Dominate Second Half to Overcome Lasers, 12-5

NEWTON, MA- After taking only a narrow 4-3 lead into halftime, Bates College delivered a dominant third and fourth quarter performance, overpowering Lasell College, 12-5, in regional non-conference men's lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon on Grellier Field.  The Lasers fall to 0-2 on the young season, while the Bobcats record their second season win in as many games.
 
The first quarter ended in a 1-1 tie after goals by Bates' Rory Cosgrove (Pittsburg, PA) and Lasell's Sam Wilcox (Norfolk, MA).  Cosgrove began the scoring at 10:21, cutting from the top of the box down the left lane and launching from ten yards out. Wilcox evened the playing field by taking a cross-crease pass from Patrick Bresnahan (Manchester, NH) to tally his second season goal. 

Bates regained control of the scoreboard seven minutes into the second quarter when Gary Guinta (Bay Shore, NY) received a feed from Luke Charest (Freeport, ME) over the top of the Laser's net. One minute later, the Bobcats capitalized on a extra-man opportunity to increase their lead to two goals as Charest found Jason Hichborn (Yarmouth, ME) cutting through the middle.  Hichborn side-armed the 15 yard shot for a 3-1 Bates lead.

At 4:20,  Lasell's Zach Wiegloszinski (Amherst, NH) closed the gap by connecting on a diving shot which bounced low past Bobcat goalkeeper Adam Scharff (Glyndon, MD).  Wielgoszinski was assisted on the shot by Brian Yepez (Hillsborough, NJ).

A distance shot by Bates' Mike Antoniou (Cumberland, ME), with 2:55 on the clock, increased the Bobcat edge to two once again. Yet with less than a minute on the clock, Lasell's Sean Speciale (Hillsborough, NJ) picked up a ground ball and curled around the net to score, bringing Lasell back within one goal of Bates, 4-3, at the intermission. 

Speciale even the scoreboard in the opening minute of the third period, firing a shot from the left wing to equalize the score at four-all.  The tie lasted just over two minutes, at which time David Barrett (Chatham, NJ) took a straight center-shot to give Bates the advantage once again.  The rest of the period belonged to the Bobcats as they scored four more unanswered goals, taking a 9-4 lead.  

Bates carried their momentum over into the fourth quarter, increasing their 5-0 run to 7-0, by 13:33 in the period.  Over ten scoreless minutes followed on either side before Wilcox cut through the middle to beat Bates' netminder for the final time.  Bobby Coppersmith (Manhattan Beach, CA) tallied the final goal, unassisted, as the Bobcats sealed their second season victory, 12-5.  

Charest led all point-scorers in the matchup, securing all five points off of assists, while Guinta, Barrett, Cosgrove, Hichborn, and Nick Sampson (Yarmouth, ME) each notched two goals apiece for the visitors.

Scharff made seven saves and let up just four goals in 53 minutes, at which point Alex Henrie (Lexington, MA) relieved Scharff in net for the final minutes of the contest.  Cody Newman (Montclair, NJ) won in 10-of-18 face-offs for the Bobcats and picked up a team-high six ground balls.

Wilcox led the Lasell scorers with two goals and one assist for three match points, and Speciale produced two goals in the setback.  Lasell's netminder Eric Walsh (Weymouth, MA) made nine saves in the game and Adam Foss (Billerica, MA) grabbed five ground balls and won five face-offs. 
 
Bates returns to action on Tuesday, March 9th at the University of New England.  Lasell has a week's rest from games before facing off with Roger Williams University on Saturday, March 13th, at 1:00 p.m. on Grellier Field.