SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Host Springfield College rattled off three unanswered goals during the last seven minutes of regulation to emerge with a 13-9 victory over MIT in a NEWMAC men's lacrosse game on Saturday. Senior Chris Cook (Tully, N.Y.) registered a hat-trick for the Engineers (12-4, 5-2 NEWMAC) in their regular-season finale.

With the win, the Pride (9-7, 6-1 NEWMAC) clinched the No. 2 seed in the upcoming conference tournament and will host No. 3 MIT in a semifinal battle on Wednesday, April 29 on Stagg Field at 7:00 p.m. This will be the sixth time in the last seven years that Springfield will face the Engineers in the conference semifinals, as the Pride has won all six games.

Sophomore Michael Traub (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) recorded one goal and two assists as junior Paul Orrson (Baltimore, Md.) found the back of the net twice. Fellow junior Jonah Hessels (Laytonsville, Md.) added a goal and an assist while senior John Kramer (Glastonbury, Conn.) racked up four groundballs and four caused turnovers. Freshman Christian Jamision (Huntington, N.Y.) paced the Cardinal and Gray with five groundballs, followed by classmate David Klee (East Greenbush, N.Y.) with three. Sophomore Harris Stolzenberg (Weston, Fla.) earned one assist and two caused turnovers as junior goalie Eric Bartell (San Diego, Calif.) tallied 12 saves.

Senior Dylan Sheehan (Massapequa, N.Y.) led all players with six points on five goals and one assist. Junior Brendan Boss (West Springfield, Mass.) and seniors Kevin Sainte (Belmont, Mass.) and Bryce Serriello (Cape Cod, Mass.) all registered three points apiece. In between the pipes, sophomore goalkeeper Chris Santaniello (West Springfield, Mass.) posted a game-high 13 saves on the afternoon, while Mark Gonzalez (Tolland, Conn.) dominated the face-off "x", going 21-for-26 on the afternoon and scooping up 15 ground balls.

Springfield struck first with 11:11 left in the opening quarter when Sheehan took a pass from Kevin Dean (Westhampton, N.Y.) on a man-up advantage and fired a shot past Bartell, before MIT pulled even with a goal from Orrson just 2:05 later. On the ensuing face-off, Gonzalez picked up a ground ball and found Boss in transition to put the Pride back up one, before Dean found the back of the net on a man-up advantage to give the Pride a 3-1 lead with 5:19 left in the first. Sheehan and Jamey Conley (Waltham, Mass.) would pump in a pair more for the Pride before the opening quarter ended to take a 5-1 lead.

MIT would scratch back into the contest with a pair of goals from Cook and Hessels, before Springfield regained a three-goal lead at the 6:21 mark of the second quarter on Sheehan's third of the contest. The Engineers would net a pair more to make it 6-5, after goals from Traub and Cook found the back of the net, before Dom Abate (Beverly, Mass.) dodged down the right alley and tucked a shot in the top right corner of the net to put the Pride up 7-5 heading into the halftime break.

It took the visitors just 48 seconds to pull to within one in the second half, as freshman Graham Davis (Crofton, Md.) scored. Springfield replied with back-to-back Serriello strikes to give it a 9-6 lead with 4:20 left in the third. After a goal from freshman Mitch Turley (Westfield, Ind.) just 58 seconds later, Sheehan took a pass from Brendan Dooley (Setauket, N.Y.) in transition and found twine to make it 10-7 heading into the final stanza.

MIT climbed back to within one with two goals 5:24 into the fourth quarter, as Cook and Orrson each struck. The hosts then responded with their game-ending run to secure the victory.

Release Courtesy of Springfield College Sports Information