Box Score The Sacred Heart University men's lacrosse team defeated visiting Providence College 11-10 on Campus Field this afternoon for its first win of the year. The win marks the first Division I head coaching win for Pioneers head coach Jonathan Basti.
Cody Marquis (Londonberry, N.H.) paced the Pioneers (1-3) with an eight-point effort, scoring three times and handing out five assists. The effort equaled an eight-point barrage, four goals and four assists, in a 2012 win over Quinnipiac and also put Marquis over the century mark in points, finishing the day with 103.
With the game tied 7-7 after an Andrew Barton goal 70 seconds into the final period, Sacred Heart took control of the game. Marquis fed Alex Miller (Ridgewood, N.J.) for the go-ahead goal with 11:41 to play, and had the assist on Matt Gannon's goal at the 8:53 mark for the 9-7 edge. Seven seconds later Marquis scored his third goal, from a Joe Kemp (Troy, Mich.) pass, for the 10-7 edge.
The Friars (3-2) ended the SHU run at the 7:20 mark on a goal from Sean Wright, making it 10-8. Mike Mawdsley (Innisfil, Ontario) answered for the Pioneers 3:01 later, with his fourth of the day and his 103rd as a collegiate player. The Friars struck twice in the final minute, with Barton scoring with 55 seconds left and Wright scoring with four ticks on the clock. Providence won the final face-off but the shot was stopped by Sacred Heart goalkeeper Jon Flood (Bay Shore, N.Y.)
Flood finished the game with 13 saves for Sacred Heart. He also had three ground balls and a caused turnover in the victory. Kemp was dominant at the face-off X, going 16-25 and scooping up 10 ground balls in the victory.
Tyler Himes stopped 14 shots in 58:38 in goal for the Friars, finishing with three ground balls and a caused turnover. Barton had six points for Providence, netting four goals. Jake Newman was 7-16 at the face-off X, with four ground balls, while Jim Cunningham picked up a team-best five ground balls.
The Friars struck first, 4:19 into the game with an unassisted tally from Barton. After a Marquis answer at the 9:55 mark, Providence scored back-to-back man-up goals, to take a 3-1 lead with 4:36 to play in the first quarter. Mawdsley scored his 100th career goal at the 3:36 mark, making it 3-2, before Barton wrapped up the scoring in the first stanza with 56 seconds left.
Sacred Heart scored the first four goals of the second quarter, rushing back to a 6-4 advantage, before taking a 6-5 lead into the intermission. Each team scored once in the third quarter, setting up the eight goal final period.
The Pioneers went 16-25 at the face-off X on the day and finished with a 35-32 advantage in ground balls. Sacred Heart was 1-3 in man-up chances, while giving up goals in all three of its man-down situations. Providence committed 19 turnovers to the Pioneers 18, while Sacred Heart had an 11-10 edge in caused turnovers.
Sacred Heart returns to action on Tuesday, travelling to Stony Brook for a 6 p.m. game, before returning home to host Hartford on Saturday, March 15. That game, set for 1 p.m., is a Face-Off For A Cause game, benefitting the Wounded Warrior Project.
