NCAA Tournament: No. 2 York Pulls Away Late for 15-7 Win over Western New England

Wood & Ward tally two goals each as Golden Bears finish 13-7

YORK, Pa. (May 9, 2018) – The No. 2 ranked York College men's lacrosse team pulled away late in the second half to earn a 15-7 victory over Western New England University in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Kinsley Field. 

With the win, York (18-2) advances to Saturday's third round to take on Amherst College, which defeated Keene State 24-7. Western New England's season comes to a close at 13-7.

Top Performers
• Senior Mikey Wood (Southborough, Mass.) and junior Jared Ward (Littleton, Mass.) led the Golden Bears offensively with two goals each, while freshman Matthew Greer (South Windsor, Conn.) handed out three assists.
• Junior Hunter Cocks (Walden, N.Y.) went 10-for-20 at the faceoff X and scooped up eight ground balls, while freshman Kevin Faustich (Seymour, Conn.) caused a team-high four turnovers and senior goalie Steven Kerr (Hopkinton, Mass.) finished with 16 saves in his final collegiate contest.

• York freshman midfielder Jake Hvazda (Royersford, Pa.) paced the Spartans with three goals and one assist. Junior attackmen Hunter Davis (Finksburg, Md.) and Thomas Pfeiffer (Forest Hill, Md.) contributed two goals and one assist each, while junior long-stick midfielder J.D. Beck (Stevensville, Md.) collected six ground balls and caused six turnovers.

Game Review
Western New England got off to a fast start, as the Golden Bears established a 2-0 lead a minute into the contest. Ward notched the game's opening goal after receiving a long pass from freshman defenseman Mitch Weiss (Westfield, Mass.) at the 14:07 mark, before Cocks won the ensuing faceoff and scored to double Western New England's advantage.  

The Golden Bears, who held a 3-2 edge after sophomore Nick Gamba (East Islip, N.Y.) recorded a man-up goal on a feed from senior Nicholas Beauchamp (Wilbraham, Mass.) with 3:38 left in the opening frame, fell victim to a 4-0 York run as the Spartans pulled ahead 6-3 with 4:32 remaining in the half. Ward scored his second goal of the contest in the final minute as Western New England cut its deficit to two (6-4) at the break.

York extended its advantage to four (8-4) with goals from Davis and sophomore Gunnar Reynolds (Elkton, Md.) early in the third quarter, but Wood and freshman Jared Newall (Stratford, Conn.) answered for Western New England to keep the Golden Bears within two (8-6) with 3:54 left in the period.

The Spartans took control from there, however, posting a 7-0 run that featured two goals from both Pfeiffer and Hvazda, to claim a 15-6 cushion late in regulation. Wood scored in the closing seconds for the Golden Bears to trim the final margin to eight.

Notes
• York outshot Western New England 50-20 and held a 41-30 edge in ground balls.
• Ward completed his junior campaign as the Golden Bears second leading scorer with 56 points on 42 goals and 14 assists.
• The loss drops Western New England to 7-9 in 16 all-time NCAA Tournament contests.