Six-goal third quarter puts them back in contention in 13-9 NCAA loss
At left: Chris Brown (24) battles Trinity in the third quarter Wednesday.
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Eastern Connecticut State University converted eight of 21 shots and outscored Trinity College in the second half after missing 19 of 20 in the first in a 13-9 loss in the opening round of the NCAA Division III men's lacrosse tournament Wednesday afternoon at at Jessee/Miller Field.
Trailing 8-1 at halftime and by eight three minutes into the second half, Eastern (12-6) regained its scoring touch to outscore No. 17 Trinity (11-6) 9-2 the rest of the way.
The Warriors scored three times in the final minute of the third quarter on goals by seniors Michael Sullinger (Brookfield), and Salieu Bolivar (Norwalk) and one by sophomore Tyler Fresen (Newington) to cut the gap to five with 15 minutes later, then pulled as close as three, 12-9 with six minutes left on early fourth-quarter strikes by senior Jeremy Cogliano (Bedford, MA) and a man-up marker by first-year junior Christian Leone (West Norwalk).
Eastern junior Josh Dubinski (Woodstock) won 18 of 25 faceoffs against four different Trinity opponents and finished his first season as a starter with a .635 winning percentage (251-for-395).
The Warriors had won seven straight and nine of ten prior to the loss. Eastern had qualified for its seventh NCAA tournament in 12 years by winning last weekend's Little East Conference playoff title.
Appearing in its first NCAA tournament (as an at-large selection), the Bantams defeated Eastern for the sixth straight time after the Warriors had won six of the first eight in the series.
