Lynn lacrosse comes up short

LYNN – The Lynn lacrosse team?s season hit another bump in the road on Tuesday evening at Manning Field, coming up just short in an 8-7 loss to Malden, which earned its first victory of the season.Playing shorthanded, the Shamrocks trailed 5-4 at halftime before being shut down in a third quarter that saw the Golden Tornados tally twice more. The hosts would pick up their play in the final period, but it proved too late.?We were short a couple of key faceoff guys (Tony Uva and Jack Stafford), which definitely hurt us,” explained Lynn coach Peter Pappagianopoulos. “We finally showed up late and trusted we could win without them but it wasn?t enough.”Malden stretched the lead to four, its highest point, just 30 seconds into the fourth quarter on Owen DesRochers? second of the game.Just 28 ticks later, Corey Wojewodzic scored the Shamrocks? first goal since the 4:40 mark of the second period, prompting a rally that he continued with his third of the game a minute and a half later.An unnecessary roughness call and ensuing misconducts on Keith MacDonald gave the visitors a lengthy power play that they would fail to convert albeit running down the clock.With 2:32 remaining, Ryan McGrane found the back of the net from a long way out to keep the pressure on Malden, which would ultimately run out the clock.?I am so happy for my guys; they have persevered through a tough season,” lauded Tornados coach Brendan Maney. “They could have packed it in long ago but they?ve stuck together and their hard work was finally rewarded.”The visitors got goals from Isaac Bethea (4 total) and DesRochers in the third quarter, despite being outshot 9-3.?Things really fell apart in the third,” lamented Pappagianopoulos. “We looked afraid to take the ball to the net and we couldn?t win a draw, which hurt us possession-wise.”Things looked promising early on for Lynn, which opened up a quick 2-0 lead with goals from Adam Bryson and Wojewodzic (assisted by Tyler Craig) just 17 seconds apart with the latter coming at the 5:36 mark.Bethea responded with consecutive tallies, the second with just 6.8 seconds remaining in the period.?He?s a very good player and a lot to handle,” said Pappagianopoulos of the big-bodied Bethea. “We played Malden a few weeks ago and he wasn?t anywhere near that effective, so I credit him for improving.”The second period began with the first of two tallies from MacDonald before the Tornados got consecutive goals from Bethea, Dirir Mohamed and Devin Kelley, the latter coming with the man-advantage.Lynn (3-11) will attempt to right the ship on Thursday against Tech.