Monks Fall in NAC Quarterfinal

Monks Fall in NAC Quarterfinal

CASTINE, ME – Fourth-seeded Maine Maritime Academy (7-6, 6-3 NAC) defeated #5 Saint Joseph's (10-8, 5-4 NAC), 22-6, in a North Atlantic Conference Tournament Quarterfinal contest on Saturday afternoon. Paul Dolewa '12 (Saco, ME) scored three goals and added an assist for the Monks in the season-ending loss.

Alexander Stone '13 (Lewiston, ME) dealt a pair of assists and Elliot LaMarre '11 (Raymond, ME) tallied a goal and won 14 of 21 face-off attempts with a team-high six groundballs for the Monks. Benson Pasquarello '12 (Kennebunk, ME) and Luke LaFreniere '10 (Alton, NH) both scored a goal in the losing effort. SJC keeper Christopher Driscoll '13 (Saco, ME) made 11 saves in net.

St. Joe's closes out the 2010 campaign with the most successful season in the three-year history of the program. The Monks showed major improvement across the board and broke every significant single-season team record, most by large margins, this spring.

The loss signals the end of the road for the Monks five seniors – Joe Vining (Poland, ME), Kyle Joseph (Oakland, ME), Andrew Moravick (Biddeford, ME), LaFreniere and Stephen Lucafo (Raymond, NH). The quintet played a major role in helping the team develop into a competitive program in the North Atlantic Conference.

For the Mariners, Andrew DiSalvo (Glastonbury, CT) finished the day with 11 points for MMA while Chris Keiley added eight points on six goals and two assists. Todd Murphy (Middlesex, VT) was outstanding in the win collecting two goals and six assists for eight points. Tom Houle (Manchester, NH) collected three goals in the victory. Erik Milles (Bangor, ME) collected his first collegiate win for the Mariners making 15 saves.

The Mariners jumped out to a 4-0 lead at the end of the first quarter on goals by Dennis St. Pierre (South Berwick, ME), Chris Keiley (Holliston, MA) and two by Disalvo. The Mariners exploded for eight more markers in the second quarter and took a 12-2 lead into the half.

St. Joe's scored the first goal of the third quarter on LaMarre's goal, but was quickly countered by a Keiley (six goals) tally that put the score at 13-3. The Monks scored again but gave up the next five markers and trailed 18-4 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Mariners tacked on four more goals in the fourth while the Monks added two to finish off the scoring at 22-6. With the win, the Mariners will advance to the semi finals of the NAC Playoffs.

Maine Maritime held an advantage in shots (42-41), groundballs (39-28) and clear rate (91%-89%), while the Monks were better on face-offs (18-12) in defeat.