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3/8/2003 - Men's Lacrosse
Navy Lacrosse Drops First Contest of the Season, 10-9, to Massachusetts

The No. 9 Navy lacrosse team fell 10-9 at No. 7 Massachusetts Saturday afternoon at Garber Field. The Mids were led by Preseason All-America Greg Conklin (Syracuse, N.Y.), who netted four goals on the afternoon to raise his season total to 10. Navy came back from a two-goal deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game at nine before Massachusetts closed the afternoon with a late goal at 2:46 with a game winner from Jeff Zywicki.

Navy scored the game's first goal at 12:41 of the first quarter, when Graham Gill (Medford, N.J.) scored his eighth goal of the season before the Minutemen countered six minutes later, at 6:19, as Gene Tundo scored off a Zywicki assist.

The Mids then registered the first-two goals of the second frame, as freshmen Jon Birsner (Levittown, N.Y.) and Ian Dingman (Deferiet, N.Y.) notched back-to-back scores to give the Mids a 3-1 cushion. However, Massachusetts struck back with a goal of its own at 7:58 before Navy again posted back-to-back goals, as Conklin scored his first of the afternoon at 5:37 and Dingman recorded his second of the period at 4:03 to give the Mids a 5-2 advantage.

The Minutemen, however, would not concede, as they rallied for four late-period goals from Sean Morris (3:05), Neil Lundberg (2:34), and back-to-back tallies from Chris Fiore (1:59 and 0:11) to take a 6-5 lead into the half.

After the break, Massachusetts scored its fifth-consecutive goal as Zywicki scored his first of the afternoon at 14:37. Conklin and Dingman again scored for the Mids in the quarter, as they sandwiched a pair of Minutemen goals in the last-five minutes. Conklin put the Mids on the board in the third at 4:40 before Morris (3:01) and Chris Doyle (1:48) responded for Massachusetts. Dingman earned the hat trick with 11 seconds remaining in the quarter to bring the Mids back within two, 9-7, with the final-15 minutes remaining to be played.

In the fourth quarter, Conklin scored twice, at 6:38 and 5:51, to knot the score at nine apiece. However, the Mids' rally could not be sustained as Zywicki scored the game winner.

Seth DiNola (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) stopped eight Minutemen shots on the afternoon, while his counterpart, Bill Schnell, warded off 10 Navy shots.

With the loss, the Mids drop to 3-1, 0-1 in the ECAC on the season, while Massachusetts improves to 3-0, 1-0 in league play. Navy will return home next Saturday, March 15, to face league-foe Rutgers at 12-Noon at Rip Miller Field. The contest will be broadcast live on WNAV 1430 AM and www.wnav.com by Pete Medhurst.