STANDISH, ME - The Saint Joseph's Men's Lacrosse team showed improvement across the board as a second-year varsity sport and first-year member of the North Atlantic Conference in 2009. Under the tutelage of second-year Head Coach Mike Edgar, the Monks sported a 4-13 record overall and went 2-7 in NAC play en route to the program's first-ever conference tournament appearance.

The season began on March 16 th with a NAC contest against Thomas College at Deering Memorial Field. The Monks trailed by three goals, 7-4, early in the fourth quarter, but responded by outscoring the Terriers 4-1 as the game stood at an 8-8 deadlock with less than five minutes to play. Unfortunately, St. Joe's saw their comeback bid fall just short as Thomas managed to score a man-down goal late in the final quarter to seal the conference triumph. Freshman Paul Dolewa (Saco, ME) played a hand in four of the SJC markers with three goals and an assist.

After suffering a one-sided defeat at the hands of Southern Maine two days later, the Monks made a trip to Manchester, NH to take on another non-conference opponent in Daniel Webster College. This time around the late-game heroics were performed by those donning the Royal Blue, as Kody Peckham '11 (West Gardiner, ME) scored the game-winning goal 19 seconds into overtime to hand the host Eagles an 11-10 defeat. Jonathan Horgan '12 (Hingham, MA) led the offensive effort with three goals and five assists and keeper Marco Stefano '12 (Steep Falls, ME) collected his first collegiate victory after making 14 saves between the pipes. The Monks steered a team-record 38 shots on net in the win.

The Monks went on to even their record to 2-2 by defeating Mitchell College, 24-7, in New London, CT on March 24th . The offensive onslaught yielded a new team record for the most goals scored in a game as the freshman duo of Dolewa (5G, 1A) and Horgan (4G, 4A) combined to tally 14 points for St. Joe's.

A 24-7 loss to Maine Maritime on March 28th began a six-game slide for the Monks that would consume nearly two weeks of the season. The loss to the Mariners was not only on the scoreboard, as St. Joe's suffered several key injuries in defeat. Stefano , who had played at a high level in net, was lost for the season and Elliot LaMarre '11 (Raymond, ME), one of the team's most athletic players and top faceoff contributor, would miss four games.

The Monks' toughest stretch of the season included a pair of losses to NAC opponents Husson University (12-15) and Emerson College (7-13). Horgan proved to be one of the bright spots for the Royal Blue during the losing streak with 10 goals and three assists as the freshman midfielder earned a pair of NAC Rookie of the Week honors during the span.

Horgan continued his hot streak by netting program single-game records of seven goals and nine points in a 16-5 win over NAC foe Lyndon State on April 11 th . Dolewa added five markers and converted goalkeeper Don Gearan '12 (Gorham, ME) helped lift the Monks to the team's first-ever conference victory by making 12 saves. Horgan collected his third-consecutive NAC Rookie of the Week honor following the triumph.

The next four games would arguably be the toughest stretch on the Monks' 2009 docket, as Castleton State, Salem State, Johnson State and six-time NAC Champion Mount Ida were all on deck before Saint Joseph's capped its regular season with a conference contest at Green Mountain. Although St. Joe's dropped four straight, the team held its own against some of the best competition in the NAC and found the back of the net 10 times against Mount Ida at Lakeside Field on April 19th.

The final regular season contest against Green Mountain College was a must-win proposition for the Monks in order to gain entry into the North Atlantic Conference Tournament. The Eagles staked an early 7-4 lead, but the Monks took control of the game by scoring 11 unanswered goals on their way to a 15-7 victory. Dolewa and Horgan both scored four goals and Co-captain Ryan Prescott '09 (Pittsfield, NH) corralled 10 groundballs in the win.

The victory over Green Mountain secured the #8 seed for the Monks, who headed to back to Vermont to take on top-seeded Castleton State in a NAC Quarterfinal match-up. Horgan scored the game's first goal to provide the Monks with a 1-0 lead after five minutes of play, but the Spartans went on to score 11 straight goals and went on to close out the SJC season by defeating the visitors 22-8.

The 2009 campaign yielded two more victories and 96 more goals than the inaugural 2008 season. Many individuals provided reasons for optimism for the future of the program:

• Horgan netted program single-season records of 45 goals, 17 assists and 62 points and was named All-Conference Honorable Mention as a freshman. He also scored a team-high nine man-up markers and collected 51 groundballs in 2009.
• Dolewa tallied 31 goals, nine assists, six man-up goals and 57 groundballs as a rookie. His totals of 161 shots and 73 shots on net both qualify as single-season records for the SJC program.
• Second-year starter Kody Peckham proved to be a consistent contributor with 21 goals, six assists and 30 groundballs.
• Prescott tracked down a team-record 65 groundballs and added 12 goals in his senior season. An outstanding student, he capped his career with an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District nomination.
• LaMarre won 56.4% (110-195) of his faceoff attempts and chipped in with six goals, five assists and 40 groundballs.
• Gearan posted a 15.32 goals-against average in 12 games and made 123 saves in 509 minutes in net.
• Blake Edwards '11 (Glide, OR) netted 10 goals, Benson Pasquarello '12 (Kennebunk, ME) scored nine, Luke LaFreniere '10 (Alton, NH) added eight goals and eight assists and Tokunbo Amosun '11 (Gardiner, ME) notched six goals, nine assists and 39 groundballs.

Seniors Ryan Prescott , Co-captain Matt Campbell (Dedham, MA), Michael Gagne (Worcester, MA) and Nick Hannon (Windham, ME) all have provided the Men's Lacrosse team with considerable contributions, on and off the field, during their time with the fledgling program. This group of young men has helped build the foundation for the Monks' future success, which appears to be just around the corner.