NEWTON, Mass. -- The Mount Ida College men's lacrosse team lost a heartbreaking, Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), overtime thriller to the Wildcats of Johnson and Wales University on Wednesday evening by a final score of 10-9 on Alumni Field.
Freshman Wildcats attack Eric Lindaas (Milford, Pa.) scored the unassisted game winning goal for the visitors from Providence, R.I. with four seconds remaining in the first overtime period to bring JWU's record to 7-6 (3-1 GNAC) on the season.
Mount Ida was led by Lucas Stralka (E. Greenwich, R.I.) who tallied four goals in the contest on 19 shots while teammates Marcus Donohue (Braintree, Mass.) and Wyatt Sullivan (Arlington, Mass.) each tallied two goals apiece. Mike Markevich (Westminster, Mass.) padded one goal and an assist while Chad Coehlo (Salem, Mass.) added two helpers, along with Joe Gengarelly (Sag Harbor, N.Y.) who added one dime.
The Wildcats jumped out to the early 2-0 lead in the first quarter off markers from Sam Sears (Baltimore, Md.) and Ben Farrell (Downington, Pa.). Lindaas upped the JWU lead to 3-0 to begin the second quarter before Markevich got the Mustangs on the board for the first time while cutting into the visitor lead at 3-1.
JWU once again increased their lead when Max Stone (Burlington, Conn.) and Sears scored back to back tallies to give the Wildcats a four goal cushion at 5-1.
Sullivan and Stralka had other ideas for the hosting Mustangs as they were able to record two straight goals in the final 1:43 of the half to bring the Mustangs within two at 5-3 at the break.
Stone opened up the scoring for the Wildcats in the second half at the 13:11 mark to once again increase the JWU lead to 6-3. Stralka struck again just over two minutes later when he recorded an unassisted marker to bring Ida back within two at 6-4.
Wildcat Hunter Guzzo (Wantage, N.J.) and Stralka exchanged the next two goals for both teams before Donohue got Mount Ida back within one at 7-6 in favor of JWU.
Stralka continued his hot streak by scoring his third goal of the quarter, a natural hat trick, to tie the game and bring the Mustangs all the way back at 7-7.
With momentum riding high for Stralka and the Mustangs, JWU scored two straight goals from Eric Russo (West Grove, Pa.) and Stone to retake a two goal advantage, 9-7. As the clock expired to end the third quarter of play, Donohue struck again to erase the Wildcat two goal lead and bring the Mustangs back to within one, 9-8.
Sullivan, on an unassisted goal, scored the only marker of the fourth quarter for either team en route to sending the GNAC contest to OT.
It was then, in the first OT period, where Lindaas tickled the twine with 0:04 remaining to give the Wildcats the thrilling 10-9 victory.
JWU was led by Stone who tallied three goals and one assist, while Sears and Lindaas also added two goals apiece. Guzzo, Farrell and Russo all tallied one tally while Bret Verderber (St. James, N.Y.) added one helper. Alex Zito (Marlboro, Conn.) led all players with eight ground balls while Guzzo led the Wildcats with seven.
The Mustangs (5-7, 1-3 GNAC) are back in action on Saturday afternoon at 12:00 when they play host to Mitchell College. JWU returns home on Saturday when they entertain Emmanuel with that game slated for 1:00.