Eagles lose Season Opener to Huskies, 11-3

GORHAM, Maine - Sophomore Seth Wing scored three second-half goals as the University of Southern Maine men's lacrosse team pulled away from the visiting Husson University Eagles for an 11-3 non-conference victory Wednesday afternoon at Hannaford Field.

Leading 3-2 at the halftime intermission, the Huskies outscored the Eagles 8-1 over the final two quarters, including by a 6-1 count in the final quarter, to take their second win in as many games.  The Eagles were playing their season opener.

Sophomore Nate DelGiudice led the Huskies' offense with four goals scoring once in each quarter.
  Rookie Paul Leonardo added a pair of goals, and junior Keegan Smith dished out four assists.  Freshman Josh Murphy won 10 of 16 faceoffs and led USM with seven ground balls.

Sophomore goalies John Bossi  and Zach Bessette split time in the USM cage.  Bossi started and made one save over the opening 22:48 before giving way to Bessette.  Bessette posted five saves over the final 37:12 and was credited with the win.

Sophomore Brooks Gay, senior Brett Martin and senior Vinny Visconti each scored a goal for the Eagles.  Freshman goalie Matt Martin stopped 10 shots.

Leonardo scored after taking a nifty feed from senior Eddie Barrasso with 5:18 left in the third quarter to ignite the USM offense.  DelGiudice tallied his third marker of the game off a dish from Smith to make it 5-2 heading into the final quarter.

Wing scored 24 seconds into the fourth to push the margin to 6-2. After seven-plus scoreless minutes, the Huskies erupted for five goals over the final 7:19. Sophomore Drew Shane and senior Austin Watts scored 59 seconds apart to make it 8-2.

Off the ensuing faceoff, Visconti got the ball and covered most of the field before beating Bessette for a man-down goal, but that would be the last Eagles goal.

DelGiudice responded with his fourth goal off another Smith assist 50 seconds later.  Wing scored twice in the final 4:12 to account for the final tally.

The Huskies had the statistical edge out shooting the Eagles 46-19, and taking the battle of the ground balls 36-20.  The Huskies were outstanding clearing the ball converting 27 of 29 clears while the Eagle cleared the ball 14 of 25 times.

Southern Maine is off until next Wednesday (3:30 p.m.) when the University of Maine at Farmington visits Hannaford Field. Husson will play its home opener on Saturday (1:00 p.m.) hosting Johnson and Wales University.  Both games are non-conference matches.