UNION, N.J. (3/23/16) – The Kean University men's lacrosse team outlasted DeSales University 7-2 in a deceptively close game at home on Wednesday night. The Cougars and Bulldogs were tied 2-2 at the start of the fourth quarter.
On a night where possession was key, Ed Adams won 9-of-13 faceoffs for the Cougars. Defenders Bryan Phillips (3) and Max McNicholas (2) forced multiple Bulldog turnovers. Maxwell Fields was outstanding in the crease, making six saves for Kean on eight shots on goal, and even adding an assist on a fourth-quarter goal for good measure. It was the first point of his career.
Click here to see highlights from tonight's win!
Kean outshot the Bulldogs 20-7 in the first half but was trailing 2-1 at the break. The Cougars hit two posts and the crossbar in the first half, but only forced DSU goalie Matt Warnken to make five saves on those 20 shots.
Matt Speciale had Kean's only first-half goal after a pretty feed from Matt Brodley just 2:30 into the game. DeSales scored unassisted goals in each of the first two quarters to snatch the early lead from the Cougars.
Brodley scored the third quarter's only goal at 9:17 to deadlock the game 2-2. One could feel the momentum swing and the Kean fans relax after their team had been buzzing around the goal for over 30 minutes of game time with nothing to show for it.
The fourth quarter was all Kean: Anthony Carpenter assisted Joe Norton at 11:22 to swing the lead back to the Cougars. Then, the senior ripped off a natural hat trick with three-straight goals in three minutes to turn what had been a gut-wrenching affair into a laugher.
Eric Talbot set up Brodley for the game's final goal and made the score 7-2.
Kean peppered Warnken with 52 total shots on the night. The Cougars forced a total of 20 turnovers and only allowed a dozen shots. Adams and Brodley had five groundballs each to pace the team. Carpenter (pictured left), Speciale, Phillips and Anthony Perrotta all had three ground balls in the game for Kean.
The Cougars will have Easter Weekend off before heading to the Keystone State to take on the University of Scranton at 7 p.m. next Wednesday.
