UNION, N.J. (2/28/15) – The Kean University men's lacrosse team overcame four different deficits and outscored Western Connecticut State University 7-2 in the second half to win a 13-7 matchup on Saturday. Goaltender Maxwell Fields made 15 saves in the game, while Matt Brodley and Anthony Carpenter both had hat tricks for Kean.

It was a tight first quarter. Three times West Conn took a lead, but three times Kean came back to tie it. The Cougars got goals from freshmen Denzel Thompson and Tom Kelly – as well as Carpenter - in the first, while the West Conn scorers were Logan Yelle, Jesse Beatty and Nick Foley.

With the score tied in the second, Anthony Rybek drew a two-minute penalty for the Cougars. Matt Speciale scored on the ensuing man-up opportunity with an assist from Rybek to give Kean its first lead.

Later, West Conn earned back-to-back goals in 37 seconds – the first on a tip-in – to re-take the lead at 5-4.

With less than four minutes left in the half, Mike Singer and Brodley scored 20 seconds apart to flip the lead to Kean at 6-5. That's the way the half ended, despite the Cougars being outshot 20-12. Fields (pictured left) was a big reason Kean led at the break, as he had nine first-half saves. Mike Criscitello also contributed greatly, going 9-for-13 on first-half faceoffs.

Brodley added the only goal of the third quarter with an unassisted tally at 10:48. Both goaltenders played well, combining for 10 saves in the third after the teams took 23 shots in the period. 

The Cougar defense dominated the second half. Kean led the game in ground balls 37-32 and shots 47-33 after trailing in both categories at the break.

Mike Cestaro and Edward Adeogun caused a game-best three turnovers each. Both players also had five ground balls.