BOSTON, Mass. - Senior attackman Aaron Pollock (Belmont, MA) netted three goals and notched two assists to lead University of Massachusetts Boston over Mount Saint Mary College, 13-7, this afternoon at the Clark Athletic Center field on the campus of UMass Boston. The victory is the first of the season for the Beacons and helps them improve to 1-2 on the year while the loss drops the Knights to 1-3 in their inaugural campaign.
In the first quarter, the Beacons raced out of the gates scoring the first five goals of the game to take a comfortable 5-0 lead. Freshman attacker Ryan Cassidy (Northbridge, Mass.) got things started with his second goal of the season off an assist from Pollock just 2:44 into the contest to put UMass Boston on top, 1-0. Senior midfielder Al Craven (Milton, Mass.) made it a 2-0 game with his third goal in as many games on another Pollock feed. At 9:29, sophomore midfielder Pat Driscoll (Hingham, Mass.) made it 3-0 on his second goal of the season and only 42 second later junior midfielder John Canty (Milton, Mass.) made it a 4-0 lead by beating Mount Saint Mary sophomore goalie
Zach Shaw (Dumont, N.J.). Pollock netted the final UMass Boston goal of the quarter at the 11:57 mark but with 29 ticks left in the first, the Blue Knights were able to get one back when senior midfielder
Jonny Gasiewski (New Milford, Conn.) netted his first goal of the season to cut the lead to 5-1
Both squads netted three goals in the second quarter to give the Beacons the 8-4 halftime margin. Senior attackman Dale Nunn (Hillsborough, NJ) netted both of his goals in the stanza, his second proving to be the eventual game-winner for UMass Boston.
After outscoring the Beacons 2-1 in the third quarter on goals from freshman midfielder
Andrew Pullen (Farmingdale, N.Y.) and freshman attackman
Nick Findlay (Elmont, N.Y.), the Knights looked to get right back into the game. Findlay netted Mount Saint Mary's seventh goal of the afternoon just 1:35 into the fourth quarter, pulling the visitors within two goals at 9-7, but the Beacons would regain control of the match and score the final four goals of the contest to earn the 13-7 victory.
Shaw ended the day making 14 saves for the Knights while freshman goaltender Jake Gostanian (Andover, Mass.) stopped seven shots in his first collegiate victory.
Mount Saint Mary returns to action on Wednesday, March 24 as they'll travel to Utica College.