PORTLAND, ME – Lasell College (3-6, 1-0 GNAC) defeated Saint Joseph's (5-5, 0-1 GNAC), 18-5, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse contest at Fitzpatrick Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Jonathan Horgan '12 (Hingham, MA) paced the Monks with two goals in the game, which was the first-ever GNAC contest for both programs.

The Monks' deficit stood at three goals – 6-3 – heading into intermission, but the Lasers all but clinched the victory with seven unanswered markers in the third quarter. Lasell outscored St. Joe's by a 12-2 margin after the break en route to the 13-goal triumph.

The Lasers opened the game on a 3-0 surge with goals from Chris Livelli '13 (Hillsborough, NJ), Adam Foss '12 (Billerica, MA) and Nick Sampson '11 (Londonderry, NH). The Monks responded with goals from Horgan and Zachary Chaisson '14 (Concord, NH), who netted a man-up marker, in the final two minutes of the first quarter to cut their debt down to 3-2.

Spencer Hunt '13 (Jeffersonville, VT) knotted the game with an unassisted tally just 15 seconds into the second stanza but the Lasers rattled off 10 straight goals over the next 29 minutes of play and led 13-3 after Chris Bulkley '11 (Groton, CT) scored off a Dan Clark '14 (Scarborough, ME) pass with one second remaining in the third quarter.

Paul Dolewa '12 (Saco, ME) scored a man-up goal off a Hunt feed to open the fourth period, but Lasell received goals from Dylan Fernandes '14 (Billerica, MA), Dylan Gray '13 (Bayport, NY) and Sampson over a four-minute span to dash the Monks' hopes of a comeback.

SJC netminder Dominic Cesarini '14 (Bow, NH) recorded seven stops in his first collegiate appearance in net. Elliot LaMarre '11 (Raymond, ME) won five face-off attempts and collected a team-high five ground balls while Robert Murtha '13 (North Kingstown, RI) added three caused turnovers on the afternoon. Ahmed Dorghoud '14 (Woodbridge, VA) won 7 of 16 face-off bids and added four ground balls for the Monks.

Sampson paced the visitors with four goals while Gray and Fernandes netted three goals apiece in the conference win. Livelli chipped in with two goals and Foss won 11 of 17 face-off attempts and corralled a game-high 11 ground balls for the Lasers. Goalkeeper Eric Walsh (Weymouth, MA) registered six saves between the pipes.

Saint Joseph's, which participated in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) for the last two seasons and Lasell, a member of the Pilgrim Lacrosse League since 2004, had never met on the lacrosse field before this afternoon.

The 2011 campaign marks the first season in which the GNAC sponsors men's lacrosse.

Both teams return to the field against conference opponents in the coming days. St. Joe's will host Mount Ida College on Wednesday, site and start time TBD. Lasell hosts Emerson on Tuesday at 4:00 PM.