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Saint Michael's wins battle of Knights in OT thriller March 18, 2008 LAURINBURG, N.C.—Senior Mke Boerma (Concord, Mass.) picked up a ground ball and shoveled in the game-winning ‘golden goal’ just 19 seconds into the second overtime period to lift the visiting Saint Michael’s College men’s lacrosse team to a 13-12 non-conference victory over host St. Andrews Presbyterian College on Tuesday afternoon. The Knights of St. Andrews (0-8) held multi-goal lead s three times in the contest but the Purple Knights (2-1), who are currently receiving votes in the USILA Coaches Top-10 Poll, rallied back all three times to win their second straight overtime game. Junior Cole Howell (St. Albert, Alberta, Canada) led the St. Andrews offensive attack with eight points. Howell tied Lazarus with five goals while added a trio of assists. Freshman Ryan McNeeley (Gambills, Md.) added two goals and one helper for SAPC. Junior Phil Hardy and Howell scored the first two goals of the game to give St. Andrews an early 2-0 lead but Saint Michael’s scored the final three goals of the first quarter to take a slim 3-2 lead after 15 minutes. Howell and McNeeley each scored two goals during a 4-0 run by the Knights as St. Andrews took its largest lead of the game at 6-3. However, the Purple Knights answered with their own 4-0 outburst in a two and a half minute stretch to regain the lead. Freshman Nick Lewnes (Arnold, Md.) tallied a late goal in the second quarter to tie the game, 7-7, at halftime. Both clubs traded two goals in the third period keeping the contest deadlocked at 9-9 heading into the fourth quarter. After swapping goals one more time, St. Andrews grabbed a two-goal lead heading into the final five minutes, 12-10, on scores by freshman Ryan Hoover (Arnold, Md.) and junior Kyle Loda (Vienna, Va.). With their backs against the wall, Saint Michael’s tied the game for an eighth time with two late goals to force the sudden death extra periods. Lazarus scored on an extra-man opportunity (his third EMO goal of the game) to pull the Purple Knights to within one and then junior Jake Previte (Cohasset, Mass.) scored the equalizer with 2:24 left in regulation. After a scoreless first overtime period, St.Andrews looked to be in control to start the second 4-minute OT with possession of the ball and 27 seconds left on a Saint Michael’s penalty but the visitors took advantage of a quick turnover to get the ball into their offensive zone. On an ensuing loose ball near the crease, Boerma was able to flick the ground ball into the back of the net to end the contest. Boerma’s man-down game-winning goal was his second straight ‘golden goal’ in four days. Purple Knights’ senior goalkeeper Jeff Hannon (Wilbraham, Mass.) improved to 2-1 on the season with eight saves. Junior counterpart Nate Hull (Millersville, Md.) had a game-high 15 stops in between the pipes for the Knights. SMC held a 40-33 shot advantage while SAPC held a 44-38 ground ball edge. Both teams were sharp on extra-man opportunities as Saint Michael’s scored on 5-of-9 opportunities while St. Andrews was 5-for-11. The Purple Knights won 14-of-27 face offs with Saint Michael’s James Baghai (Wellesley, Mass.) and St. Andrews junior Ethan Young (Hilliard, Ohio) winning 11 face offs for their respective teams. Previte finished with two goals while sophomores Brian DiPisa and Mat Reardon -- both from Medford, Mass. -- had the other goals for the Purple Knights. The Knights of St. Andrews had assists on 11 of their 12 goals including three helpers by Howell, Lewnes, and Loda. Freshman Chris Michela (Oak Hill, Va.) chipped in with one goal and one assist. St. Andrews begins Conference Carolinas play on Friday when they host Lees-McRae College at 1:00 p.m. while Saint Michael’s visits non-conference Adelphi University (Garden City, N.Y.) at the same time Friday. |
Boerma eight-point performance including the game-winning goal led the visitors to the victory. Boema totaled four goals and a game-high four assists while classmate Greg Lazarus (Evanston, Ill.) had a team-high five goals. Boerma and Lazarus combined for nine of Saint Michael’s 13 goals.