2008 PILGRIM LEAGUE MEN'S LACROSSE TOURNAMENT - Wheaton battles Springfield in title game, five-game win streak snapped

May 3, 2008

SPRINGFIELD, MA- Competing in its first Pilgrim League Tournament championship game in 12 seasons Saturday afternoon, the second-seeded Wheaton College men's lacrosse battled conference power and top seed Springfield College to a 9-5 setback on Stagg Field, as the Lyons saw their season and five-game win streak come to a halt.

Wheaton, which hadn't lost since April 15 thanks to five straight victories over Pilgrim teams, finishes the year at 8-9 under first-year head coach Mike McCaffrey. Now 10-6, the Pride captured its seventh Pilgrim Tournament crown while earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Springfield raced out to a 3-0 advantage, including tallying twice in the first 2:51, before the Lyons stormed back with three of their own to send the game into the second quarter tied at three. Wheaton scored its trio in just 2:05, beginning with sophomore Warren Garceau's (Guilford, CT/Canterbury School) score 15 seconds after the Pride's third tally. Classmates Tim Horan (Cheshire, CT/Cheshire) and Drew Schaffer (New Haven, CT/Loomis Chaffee School) scored 26 seconds apart to knot the score.

Freshman Duncan Smith (Centerport, NY/Harborfields) provided the Blue and White with its fourth consecutive goal and only lead of the game just 1:12 into the second quarter, connecting on senior Richie Rasamny's (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) second straight assist. With his pair of helpers, Rasamny finished tied for third in program annals in career assists and ninth in points.

Springfield recaptured its lead with goals from freshman Kyle Louer (Islip, NY/Islip) and sophomore Kyle Gable (Somers, CT/Somers) at 11:49 and 9:50, respectively, but first-year Ben Cederberg (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury) tied the score at five 1:04 later. Louer and junior Jake Beebe (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) responded with the quarter's final two scores to give the hosts a 7-5 advantage at the half.

From the 8:45 point of the second quarter until the final horn, the Pride defense stymied the Wheaton attack, keeping the Lyons off the board for nearly 39 minutes while tacking on a goal in each of the final two periods to complete the scoring. Springfield junior goalie Tom Albano (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) was impressive in the second half when he made nine of his 11 saves to pick up his 10th victory of the season.

Wheaton sophomore Schuyler Horn (New Hartford, CT/Kingswood-Oxford School) amassed 14 saves in net. Louer had three goals and one assist for the Pride, while Gable had two tallies and two helpers.

2008 PILGRIM LEAGUE MEN'S LACROSSE TOURNAMENT
Springfield 9, Wheaton 5

SCORING 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Wheaton (8-9) 3 2 0 0 5
Springfield (10-6) 3 4 1 1 9

Cumulative Scoring:
Goals: WC- Ben Cederberg, Warren Garceau, Tim Horan Drew Schaffer, Duncan Smith; SC- Kyle Louer 3, Kyle Gable 2, Jake Beebe, Joe Heney, Joe Macchi, Tyler Montgomery

Assists: WC- Richie Rasamny 2, Marco Barbone; SC- Gable 2, Jake Jones 2, Louer

Goalkeeper Saves: WC- Schuyler Horn 14; SC- Tom Albano 11

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