NORTHFIELD, Vt.— In a rematch of last season's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse championship game, Mount Ida College left Norwich University on Saturday afternoon suffering another defeat at the hands of the Cadets, this time by a count of 10-5.
The loss drops the Mustangs to 8-6 overall and 5-3 in league play, while the Cadets improve to 4-9 overall and 4-3 in the GNAC, as the teams jostle for positioning in the conference tournament in a few week's time.
The Mustangs were led by sophomore Mark Markevich (Westminster, Mass.) with a team-best two goals. Freshmen Cole Davis (Chester, N.H.), Ryan Trinque (East Greenwich, R.I.) and Jon Berry (Chichester, N.H.) also scored for Mount Ida.
Senior Ian Mendoza (Mount Airy, Md.) netted a hat-trick to lead Norwich, who also got two goals from junior Seth Fuller (Wheaton, Ill.). Senior Zachary McMillan (Brunkswick, Maine)and sophomore Connor Roberts (St. Albans, Vt.) both tallied a goal and an assist, while senior Ian Thomas (Barrington, R.I.) and sophomores Matt Flaherty (Portland, Maine) and Ryan McCarthy (Medford, Mass.) all netted single goals.
The Cadets started the game strong, as Fuller netted back-to-back goals at the 10:31 and 4:09 marks of the first quarter to take an early 2-0 lead. A man-up goal by Mendoza with 3:00 on the clock gave the Cadets a 3-0 lead, but the Mustangs would not be shutout in the first period, as Berry scored an unassisted goal with 1:24 to play.
Scoring slowed in the second quarter, as Norwich's McCarthy netted the only goal of the frame on a man-up situation with 3:31 to play in the half, and Norwich held a 4-1 lead at the break.
After over 10 minutes of scoreless play in the second half, Trinque netted the first goal of the half to cut Norwich's lead to 4-2. The Mustangs would not be able to get any closer though, as Thomas, Roberts, and Flaherty scored three straight goals spanning the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth to put the Cadets up 7-2.
Davis and Markevich responded with back-to-back goals at the 9:15 and the 7:14 marks of the fourth quarter, for Mount Ida, but Norwich outscored the Mustangs 3-1 in the final seven minutes of the game en route to the 10-5 final.
Norwich goaltender Mark Paradiso (Westford, Mass.) totaled 12 saves in the win, while Mount Ida netminder Kyle Cordaro (Worcester, Mass.) also reached double-figures with 11 saves. Paradiso also recorded a game-high six ground balls.
Mount Ida junior defender Chaz Strom (North Grafton, Mass.) grabbed four ground balls and was one of three Mustangs to cause a pair of turnovers, along with Corey Gelbstein (Greenwich, Conn.) and Peter Hardy (Tyngsboro, Mass.).
Norwich face-off specialists Andrew Bracy (Carthage, N.Y.) and Brett Sewing (Brattleboro, Vt.) combined to win 13 of 17 face-offs on the afternoon. Norwich defender Peter Troiano (Winchester, Mass.) totaled game-high three caused turnovers.
Mount Ida has another important GNAC test on Wednesday, as they head to Becker for a 4:00 pm contest.
The Cadets return to action on Monday, April 14 when they travel to Daniel Webster for a 4:00 p.m. GNAC game.