NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida College dropped a 12-8 decision to UMass Boston on Wednesday evening in non-conference men's lacrosse action at Alumni Field, as the Beacons slowly but surely left the Mustangs in the rearview mirror.
The teams were tied after one quarter of play, but UMass Boston grabbed a one-goal advantage at halftime and led by two goals after three quarters before scoring four straight goals in the final fifteen minutes.
Four players tallied twice for Mount Ida, who fall to 1-4 on the season. Mike Markevich (Westminster, Mass.), Chad Coehlo (Salem, Mass.), Joe Galante (Framingham, Mass.), and Lucas Stralka (East Greenwich, R.I.) each found the back of the net on two occasions.
UMass Boston (4-3) was led by five goals from junior Noah Ellis (Hingham, Mass.) and four points (two goals and two assists) from sophomore Nick Tangherlini (Cohasset, Mass.).
Coehlo put the Mustangs up 2-0 with his third and fourth goals of the year in the first period, both unassisted strikes, before Ellis helped the Beacons tie the game with his first goal and then an assist to Dom Fichera (Scituate, Mass.).
The visitors would go on to score four straight goals, as Michael Kennedy (Hudson, Mass.) and Tangherlini scored less than a minute apart with just over five minutes left in the half before Stralka struck 13 seconds before the break.
The game of runs continued, as each team would then score three consecutive goals. Beacons senior Donny Delpha (Walpole, Mass.) struck twice in the third quarter, sandwiched around a goal by Ellis, and then Markevich sandwiched two scores around a score by Stralka.
Markevich's second tally of the game came with 12:30 left in the fourth quarter and cut the Beacon's lead to 7-6, but Ellis scored the middle two goals of a 4-0 run by UMass Boston and the visitors led 11-6 before two goals by Galante, sandwiched around Ellis's final strike of the night, ended the scoring.
The teams were fairly even at the face-off dot, with Mount Ida freshman Alex Zito (Marlboro, Conn.) winning 8-16, and UMass Boston junior Phil Truong (Quincy, Mass.) going 12-23 on the draw.
The Beacons had a 35-26 edge in shots and got 8 saves from junior Craig Frehill (Norwell, Mass.), who improved to 3-1 on the year.
Cam Hayward (Derry, N.H.) dropped to 0-2 on the season for Mount Ida, despite making 8 saves in the first half of play.
For the Beacons, sophomore Adam Roelke (Sandwich, Mass.) led all players with six ground balls.
The Mustangs return to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action this weekend when they host Saint Joseph's (ME) on Saturday at 4:00 pm at Alumni Field.
UMass Boston opens Little East Conference (LEC) play at 1:00 pm Saturday when they host Salem State University.