WENHAM, Mass. - In the opening round of The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Men's Lacrosse Tournament Saturday afternoon at Brigham Athletic Complex, Gordon College avenged a regular season loss to Salve Regina University, claiming a 10-7 victory to advance to the conference semifinals.

Gordon ended a back-and-forth first quarter with a 3-2 lead. The Fighting Scots went on an offensive surge in the second quarter, scoring three times to take a 6-2 lead into halftime. Zac Blue (Monticello, Minn.), Dan Perednia (Granby, Conn.), and Adam Quinn (Gloucester, Mass.) all tallied for the Fighting Scots in the second quarter.

Salve Regina struck first in the opening minutes of the second half when Chad Hollenshade (Lutherville, Md.) scored to make it 6-3. After the Fighting Scots Dan Castelline (Concord, Mass.) responded two minutes later, Salve Regina received tallies from Brendan Rooney (West Newton, Mass.) and Chris Walker (Marshfield, Mass.) to close the gap to 7-5. Utz scored one more before the end of the third, though, to widen the gap in the Scots favor, 8-5.

Less than three minutes into the final stanza, Walker scored his second of the day off a pass from Rooney to keep his team in contention. Determined to get the win, however, the host Scots answered back with goals from Wes Chittick (Glenside, Pa.) and Blue off a pass from Utz to make it 10-6. Despite one more Salve Regina tally, the Scots took advantage of a barrage of Seahawks penalties late in the game to work time off the clock and secure the 10-7 win.

Leading Gordon's effort was Chittick with three goals, followed by Utz and Blue with two each and Quinn, Castelline, and Perednia with single tallies. Defensively, Stuart Knechtle (New Canaan, Conn.) had a banner day, collecting 17 ground balls and forcing seven turnovers, while keeper Houston Zemanski (Annapolis, Md.) turned away 15 shots.

With the win, the Scots improve to 9-7 overall and travel to face the second-seeded Gulls of Endicott College on Wednesday, May 4 for a shot to play in TCCC title game.

Courtesy of Gordon sports information