WATERVILLE, Maine -- Whit McCarthy (Darien, Conn.) and Caddy Brooks (Darien, Conn.) each had five points on the day as the Colby College men's lacrosse team scored 12 times in the opening half on the way to a 17-4 non-conference victory over University of Southern Maine on Wednesday at Bill Alfond Field.

McCarthy had four goals and one assist to move his season totals to 31 goals and 10 assists for 41 points. Brooks finished with one goal and four assists.

Craig Bunker (Topsfield, Mass.) finished with a pair of assists, won nine face-offs, and had 11 groundballs. Bunker's assists both came on McCarthy goals just seven seconds into each half. Bunker easily won the face-off, picked up the groundball, and found McCarthy both times in very close to the same spot on the field for the goals.

The Mules (6-4) scored four goals in the opening 5:05 of play to take command quickly. Stew Brown (Wilton, Conn.) had two goals during the run.

The Huskies (5-4) made it 4-1 when Dan Thomas (Shrewsbury, Mass.) tallied with eight minutes to go in the first quarter. Patrick Briody (Hopewell, N.J.) and Sam Kennedy (Cumberland, Maine) had goals for the Mules to give Colby a 6-1 lead after a period.

Colby defender Chris Healy (New Canaan, Conn.) scored his first collegiate goal with 12:52 to halftime for a 7-1 lead, but USM made it 7-2 when Marc Stannard (Hartford, Conn.) scored about one minute later. The Mules went on a 5-0 scoring run, including two goals apiece from McCarthy and Jamie Wallace (Marblehead, Mass.), in the final 9:23 of the half.

Colby scored the only three goals of the third quarter before each team scored twice in the final quarter.

Briody had two goals and one assist for the Mules. John Moriarty (Winchester, Mass.) finished with a pair of goals. Preston Gilbert (Saco, Maine) and Lee Gauthier (Berwick, Maine) both had one goal and one assist for Southern Maine.

* * * *

WATERVILLE, Maine -- Junior Whit McCarthy (Darien, Conn.) and senior Caddy Brooks (Darien, Conn.) each tallied five points as the Colby College Mules used a big first half to defeat the University of Southern Maine Huskies, 17-4, in a non-conference men's lacrosse game Wednesday afternoon at Bill Alfond Field.

The win snapped a two-game losing skid for the Mules and improves their overall record to 6-4. The Huskies had their two-game winning streak stopped and slip to 5-4.

Colby outscored USM 6-1 in the first and second quarters to enjoy a comfortable 12-2 lead at halftime. Colby scored the first four goals of the game within a span of 5:05 to grab control. Five unanswered goals to close the half put the host side in a comfortable position after 30 minutes.

McCarthy had a game-high four goals and one assist for his five points while Brooks had a goal and four assists. Juniors Patrick Briody (Hopewell, N.J.) and Stew Brown (Wilton, Conn.), senior Jamie Wallace (Marblehead, Mass.) and sophomore John Moriarty (Winchester, Mass.) all chipped in a pair of goals.

For USM, seniors Preston Gilbert (Saco, Maine/Cheverus) and Lee Gauthier (Berwick, Maine/Noble) each had a goal and an assist. Rookies Dan Thomas (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Marc Stannard (Hartford, Vt.) had the other goals. Senior goalie James Suriyodorn (Deer Park, N.Y.) recorded 13 saves.

Southern Maine is back in action on Saturday (1:00 p.m.) when it hosts the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in a Little East Conference game. Colby travels to Connecticut College for a NESCAC game on Saturday (1:00 p.m.).

2009-04-08