BIDDEFORD — The University of New England men’s lacrosse team knew it would have to pass a tough test if it wanted to tie the program record of four-straight victories when 5-0 Wentworth Institute of Technology rolled into Biddeford on Wednesday afternoon for the teams’ Commonwealth Coast Conference opener.

On a windy day at the Big Blue Turf, it indeed was a turbulent ride ”“ down to the very last second.

After freshman Sam Cloutier scored his fourth goal of the game with 58 seconds left to give UNE a 10-9 lead, Wentworth had three opportunities to send the game into overtime after it won the resulting face-off.

But the Leopards could only send two shots wide, and when Jay Letendre saved Dillon Lynch’s long-range effort as the clock hit zero the Nor’easters (6-2, 1-0 CCC) had increased their winning run to four, as well as coach Charlie Burch’s blood pressure by a few points.

“Very exciting for the fans, a little too exciting for my taste,” Burch said. “But we’re winning those one-goal games so I can’t complain too much.”

“It’s a huge win for us coming to the wire,” Cloutier added. “It’s the first conference game, so a good win to pull out.”

While the freshman was the star of the game, it turned into senior Tyler Thomas’s day when the attackman scored his second with 7:53 to play in the third quarter to pass Sean Melnick and become the program’s career leader in goals scored with 125.

“Right now it’s just kind of surreal. I think when I get a chance to sit down and reflect it will probably sink in a lot more,” Thomas said of the mark. “It feels good though. I’ve set that goal since my freshman year and to accomplish it is an honor and showed that a lot of hard work paid off.”

While Thomas’s second goal set the record, his first tally could have been the most important of the game.

After Wentworth jumped out to a two goal lead just five minutes in, Thomas took advantage of a bad Leopards turnover to score maybe his easiest goal of the 125 into an empty net to get his team on the board.

“They had the momentum going early and we were able to fire back,” Thomas said. “I scored that empty netter and then we started putting some good possessions together offensively.”

UNE then went on a 4-1 run thanks to two goals apiece from Cloutier and Dan O’Gorman, and it looked like the Nor’easters would take a lead into the half.

But two penalties in the final 1:32 gave Wentworth its first two power play opportunities, and the Leopards punished the Nor’easters with two quick strikes to even things 5-5 after the opening 30 minutes.

Out of the break neither team could break away for a two-goal lead, with a Mike Allan strike for UNE tying the game at 9-9 with 9:19 to play.

It would remain that way until the final minute, when Cloutier received the ball on the right wing and dodged past Wentworth defender Tim Parlato.

Parlato couldn’t keep up and compounded the problem by dropping his stick, and Cloutier made the Leopards pay with a bounce pass that got by goalie Jared Proulx for the game-winner.

“The goalie kind of dropped his stick a little bit so I did a high bounce shot and it happened to go in,” Cloutier said of the goal. “At the beginning of the game we had a few low shots and (Proulx) seemed to be pretty good down low so we decided to go up high and had a little bit more success and stuck with it.”

It was just UNE’s third win in 15 tries against Wentworth, and the Nor’easters will look to reverse another trend at 3 p.m. Saturday when they host Roger Williams, who hold a 13-0 edge in the all-time series.

The Hawks are a middling 3-4 so far this season, but Burch said his team knows it will in for another battle as CCC action kicks into high gear.

“We’ve got big one coming up on Saturday that we’re all aiming for,” Burch said. “They don’t have a very good record but they’re an excellent team and they’ve played a really tough schedule so far.

“We’ve got to get better in a lot of areas, that’s for sure, but we’re happy where things are at 6-2.” — Contact Staff Writer Cameron Dunbar at 282-1535, Ext. 323.