NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida College junior Lucas Stralka's (E. Greenwich, R.I.) fifth goal of the game was the only tally of the fourth quarter of Thursday afternoon's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse semifinal and it gave the Mustangs a 6-5 lead over Norwich University in front of an excited home crowd.
The work of freshman goalie Cam Hayward (Derry, N.H.), who had three of his 11 saves in the fourth quarter, including one at the final horn, preserved that lead and sent Mount Ida back to the GNAC championship game for the fourth time in program history.
The win is also the tenth straight for Mount Ida, who move to 11-4 on the season and will make their 11th conference title game appearance in the last 12 years.
Stralka was the offensive key for Mount Ida in a game which saw Norwich take a one-goal lead on five occasions, only to have Mount Ida tie the game each time, often just moments later.
The teams each scored once in each of the first two quarters, with the Cadets taking the lead just 12 seconds into the game thanks to Pete Soonthornprapuet (Pelham, N.Y.).
Stralka notched his first goal of the game halfway through the quarter, and then again tied the game with 5:54 left in the half after C.J. Dolan (East Sandwich, Mass.) had given Norwich the lead again just over a minute into the second quarter.
The third quarter saw a barrage of goals, as Matt Flaherty (Portland, Maine) scored 1:23 into the second half.
Mount Ida junior Steven Koziski (Peabody, Mass.) broke the tie again less than a minute later, but Norwich retook the lead before the ten minute mark through the first of two goals by Ryan McCarthy (Medford, Mass.). Stralka scored twice in the third quarter to tie the game at four and then again at five, with 1:31 left in the third quarter after McCarthy's second of the game came on a feed from Flaherty, the only assist of the day for the Cadets.
Mount Ida was outshot 11-2 in the fourth quarter, but cashed in on their limited opportunities with the deciding goal of the game, which came on Stralka's 27th marker of the season, with an assist from Shaun Royce (South Windsor, Conn.).
Hayward's 11 saves is tied for the second most in his freshman season. Norwich senior Ryan Fecteau (Danvers, Mass.) made nine stops in the loss.
The Cadets outshot Mount Ida 33-21 and had a 46-25 edge in ground balls, as well as a 10-5 edge in face-offs thanks to the work of senior Andrew Bracy (Carthage, N.Y.).
This is the fourth straight season that the Mustangs and Cadets have met in the GNAC postseason. Mount Ida stopped a four-game losing streak against Norwich earlier this year with a triple overtime victory, a streak that included Norwich eliminating Mount Ida from the postseason the last two years.
This year it's the Mustangs that end Norwich's playoff run, and Mount Ida moves on to face the winner of tonight's other semifinal between Emmanuel and Lasell.
If the top-seeded Saints win, they will host Saturday's championship game, while the #2 seeded Mustangs would host rivals Lasell if the Lasers knocked off Emmanuel.
Norwich sees their season end with their record dipping below .500 (7-8), after posting a 4-4 mark in the conference this year.