NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida College erased a three-goal deficit and Chad Coehlo (Salem, Mass.) scored with 1:08 remaining in overtime to lead the Mustangs to a 10-9 victory over visiting Wentworth in their men's lacrosse home opener on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field.
Sophomore goalie Cam Hayward (Derry, N.H.) made 16 spots, many of them highlight-reel saves, to keep Mount Ida close and Lucas Stralka (E. Greenwich, R.I.) scored four goals to increase his team leading total to 10 and help the Mustangs improve to 2-2 on the year.
Coehlo's goal, the fifth of the season and first of the game for the junior, trickled through the legs of Wentworth sophomore goalie Adam Dufault (Lexington, Mass.), who was equally impressive, making 17 saves in the game.
Mount Ida opened the scoring with goals by Stralka and Marcus Donahue (Braintree, Mass.), who would go on to notch a hat trick.
The Leopards, who got three goals from junior Ryan Natusch (Madison, Conn.) surged back with a 7-2 run that saw them hold a 5-4 lead at halftime and a 7-4 advantage when Tim Parlato (Needham, Mass.) scored at 7:52 of the third period.
After Jon Berry (Chichester, N.H.) and Sean Farmer (Billerica, Mass.) traded goals, Stralka began a 3-0 Mustang run that included two goals by Donahue to start the fourth quarter, the second one tying things up at 8 with 8:53 to play in regulation.
Nick Parent (Windham, N.H.) and Jack Zaylor (Hanover, Mass.) each scored twice for Wentworth, and the second strike by Zaylor, his seventh of the year, put the visitors back in front less than two minutes after Donahue's tally.
Sophomore Alex Zito (Andover, Conn.) had the slight edge at the face-off dot for Mount Ida, edging Ty Trebbe (Wilbraham, Mass.) 11-9 in face-off wins.
The Mustangs got a game-high five ground balls from Ryan Trinque (E. Greenwich, R.I.), as well as three caused turnovers and four ground balls by sophomore Shayne Rix (Kingston, Mass.), but were outshot by the Leopards 45-34, though Coehlo's was the only shot for either time in the overtime period.
Freshman Sean Brennan (Stony Point, N.Y.) had four caused turnovers and five ground balls to lead the Leopards.
The Mustangs will host another game on Alumni Field on March 16th when Salem State University comes to town for a 3:30 pm contest.
Wentworth (0-4) looks for their first win of the year when MIT comes to town on Tuesday, March 15th at 4:00 pm.