Men’s lacrosse comes up one goal short against Thomas

5 mins read

GORHAM – The reactions of the University of Maine at Farmington men’s lacrosse players on the field told you how much this one hurt.

Some slammed their sticks on the Smith Field turf as the final horn sounded. Others dropped to their knees or squatted, and stared silently as the Thomas College players rushed onto the field to mob goalie Carlos Cardona. Several went over and consoled their own goalie, senior Ben Altmaier, who played his heart out while making 21 saves.

But all of them were left to wonder about the one that got away in a 9-8 North Atlantic Conference loss to the Terriers, in Wednesday afternoon’s latest installment of a quickly blooming bitter rivalry.

For the second straight meeting between the two conference rivals, a single goal decided the outcome. Unlike last season’s second meeting however, which ended with a 6-5 win for UMaine-Farmington, this time the Beavers got the short end of the proverbial stick.

UMaine-Farmington (1-6, 1-4 NAC) played catch-up on the scoreboard with Thomas (3-6, 3-2 NAC) for most of the game’s first 54 minutes, as the Terriers managed to stay tied or slightly ahead of the Beavers. The only exception was a 22-second span in the first quarter, when senior Brandon Melville’s extra-man goal gave the Beavers a 2-1 lead at the 10:21 mark of the frame.

That advantage lasted until the clock showed 9:59 in the first, when Gunnar Shelton netted the first of his four goals on the day to knot the game at 2-2. A Derek Driscoll goal just over six minutes later gave the Terriers a 3-2 advantage, which Thomas parlayed into a 5-4 lead at the intermission.

Two more Thomas goals in the third quarter were answered by a man-up marker from Farmington senior Jake Linkletter – his second extra-man goal of the game and third of the season – and left the Beavers trailing, 7-5, as the game headed into its final 15 minutes.

Melville brought Farmington to within one, 7-6, just 27 seconds into the fourth quarter with a brilliant shot for an unassisted goal. Freshman Casey Wrigley converted a pass from sophomore Nathan Chase to tie the game at 7-7, beating Cardona with 6:08 remaining.

Thomas regained the lead with exactly four minutes on the clock on Bryan Ferris’ extra-man goal off a pass from Jesse Evans. A turnover behind the UMaine-Farmington goal led to another Terrier score 30 seconds later by Shelton, giving Thomas a 9-7 lead coming down the stretch.

Several Farmington scoring chances in the waning minutes yielded nothing, until Wrigley found the back of the goal with 48 seconds left in the game to cut the Thomas lead to 9-8.

The Beavers had several more scoring chances in the final 10 seconds, with both Linkletter and Chase pulling the trigger on shots that were wide of the mark.

Melville, Linkletter, and Wrigley each finished with two goals, with Melville also getting credited with three assists to complete a five-point day. Seniors Michael Keim and Mike Foley each had one goal for the Beavers.

Shelton notched four goals for Thomas, with Driscoll recording a pair of scores. Jordan Marino, Jesse Evans, and Bryan Ferris all scored once for the Terriers.

Thomas outshot UMaine-Farmington, 45-36, and was credited with 50 ground balls to the Beavers’ 39. Farmington performed well in its extra-man offense, going 3-for-4 in man-up situations to Thomas’ 1-for-6 conversion rate.

Cardona finished the day with 11 saves over his 60 minutes in the Thomas goal.

UMaine-Farmington returns to action on Saturday, April 12, when it faces NAC-foe Johnson State College. That game will be played on the campus of New England College in Henniker, N.H., with a 5:00 p.m. start time.

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