Castleton Escapes JSC with 11-9 Win

JOHNSON, Vt. (April 9. 2009)

 

Johnson State saw a 9-7 fourth period lead evaporate as visiting Castleton State surged to an 11-9 North Atlantic Conference men’s lacrosse victory on Thursday at Minaert Field.

 

Castleton (6-4, 5-0 NAC) struck first with unassisted goals from Michael Martinez (Barrington, Ill.) and Ryan Bartlett (Brunswick, Maine) to make the score 2-0 with 11:40 remaining in the first period.

 

Johnson (3-2, 3-2 NAC) would answer with a Billy Noyes (Boston, Mass.) fastbreak goal assisted on by Steve Noyes (Barre, Vt.).  Two more from Johnson and three scores for Castleton would make the score 5-3 after one.

 

The Badgers took control of momentum in the second period following a Kevin McCarthy (Johnson, Vt.) goal that made it 6-3 Castleton.  Alex Petti (East Greenwich, R.I.), and a pair of Steve Noyes goals knotted the contest at 6-6 going into the break and stage was set for a thrilling second half.

 

McCarthy’s second goal of the game at the 9:00 mark made it 7-6 but Johnson tallied three consecutive goals, two by senior Matt Riani (Jericho, Vt.) and one by Casey Riley (Kennebunk, Maine), to give JSC the 9-7 lead with 13:23 remaining in the contest.

 

Martinez would score his second and third goal of the game to tie it at 9-9 with 6:49 left to play.  Bartlett would strike for the 10-9 lead with 4:27 remaining and Michael DelDotto (Reading, Mass.) sealed it with 1:58 with an unassisted score.

 

Branden Sawyer (East Greenwich, R.I.) had a strong effort in goal for Johnson making 10 saves while Michael Mamunes (Ellington, Conn.) and David DeGhetto (Clifton, N.J.) combined to stop 10 shots for Castleton.

 

Johnson will host Emerson College on Saturday at 2:00 pm in their next contest while Castleton, having their game scheduled for Saturday cancelled with Thomas College, will host St. Joseph (Maine) on Tuesday 4:00 pm, both NAC contests.