Men's Lacrosse finishes 09 season in impressive fashion
New England College men’s lacrosse finished an impressive 2009 run with an overall record of 10-8 and a Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) record of 5-4. In addition to earning a home playoff game, the Pilgrims earned a berth to the ECAC New England Tournament hosting and opening round game against Castleton State College. NEC advanced to the ECAC New England Championship after wins over Castleton and Wheaton College but eventually fell to defending ECAC Champions Endicott College in the final.
Leading the Pilgrim offense this season was sophomore attack Matt Carey. Carey (Medford, N.Y.) finished the season with a team-high 48 points, including 25 goals ad 23 assists. Carey finished fifth in the TCCC in assists per game averaging 1.35 and was tied for the conference lead in man-down goals netting two on the season. Junior Matt Vozzolo (Somers, Conn.) played in 18 games for the Pilgrims and finished second on the team in scoring with 45 points on 32 goals and 13 assists. In addition to his scoring Vozzolo finished third on the team with 41 ground balls. Sophomore John Gabriel (W. Nyack, N.Y.) made an impact on offense for the Pilgrims scoring a team-high 34 goals, including eight man-up goals and three game-winning goals. Rounding out the Pilgrim offense was Clint McDonough (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) who dished out 18 assists to go along with nine goals this season.
Senior midfielder Jacob Rice (Schenectady, N.Y.) took the bulk of the face-offs for the Pilgrims this season finishing with a percentage of .467 and had 25 ground balls. Midfielder Phil DiFalco (Scarsdale, N.Y.) played in 18 games for the Pilgrims and finished with 11 goals and five assists, while midfielder Sam Freihofner (Scarsdale, N.Y.) scored six goals and finished with 26 ground balls and four caused turnovers
Leading the defense this season was senior captain Paul Ganley. Ganley (Burlington, Mass.) led the team with 14 caused turnovers and had 37 ground balls on the season. Defender Greg Jacques (W. Hartford, Conn.) picked up a team-high 56 ground balls and was second on the team with 11 caused turnovers, while first-year defender Jimmy Benjamin (Albany, N.Y.) had seven caused turnovers and 23 ground balls.
Anchoring the Pilgrim defense was sophomore goalie Nick Acquaviva. Acquaviva (Syracuse, N.Y.) started all 18 games in net for the Pilgrims finishing with a record of 10-8. Acquaviva totaled 193 saves on the season and finished fourth in the TCCC in saves per game averaging 10.65.
