STANDISH, ME – The Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse program continued its growth as a fourth-year varsity sport last spring.

Under the watch of Head Coach Mike Edgar, the only skipper in the team's short history, the Monks went 10-8 overall with a 4-3 mark as a first-year member of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC). The GNAC record was worthy of the #4 seed in the conference tournament as the Royal Blue hosted a postseason contest for the first time in program history.

Not satisfied with just hosting a tournament quarterfinal, Saint Joseph's proceeded to tip fifth-seeded Becker College, 10-9, and advanced to the semifinal round to face top-seeded Mount Ida College. Although St. Joe's fell to the Mustangs - the eventual GNAC Champions – in the semis, the Monks proved they belonged in the upper echelon of the conference as a first-year participant.

The Royal Blue kicked off the 2011 campaign with a hard-fought loss at the hands of Salem State on March 5th, but rebounded with the program's first win over rival University of Southern Maine two days later. Sophomore netminder Christopher Driscoll (Saco, Maine) was brilliant in the narrow 6-5 win over the Huskies with 15 saves as USM managed to outshoot the Monks by a whopping 43-24 margin in a game that featured wintery conditions. The landmark victory was an early display of how much the Monks had improved as a program, as the Huskies had outscored St. Joe's by a 54-14 mark – including an 18-5 setback in 2010 - in the previous three meetings between the clubs.

Saint Joseph's, which succeeded in not dropping three straight for the second consecutive season in 2011, parlayed the momentum into a convincing 13-3 victory over Thomas College on March 9th. Spencer Hunt '13 (Jeffersonville, Vt.) netted five goals and Driscoll posted 11 stops in the SJC triumph.

For the second straight season the Monks took a spring trip as the team traveled to the Washington D.C. area for a pair of games against the likes of Hood College and Frostburg State University, a pair of competitive programs. Even though the team dropped both contests, the opportunity proved to be worthwhile as the Monks utilized the experience to help post a 7-4 mark heading into the conference tournament.

St. Joe's returned to Maine following Spring Break and promptly returned to action with two non-conference games against Lyndon State and Maine-Farmington. In both contests the Monks left little doubt as to which team would walk away victorious as the Royal Blue outscored the duo of former conference foes by a combined 36-6 score to improve to 4-3 on the season. Hunt scored five in a 21-5 win over Lyndon and Jonathan Horgan '12 (Hingham, Mass.) put up three scores and a team-record eight assists in a 15-1 triumph over Farmington.

The Monks hit a roadblock with a 14-3 loss to Husson University on March 26th, but returned to the winning ways five days later with a 16-7 win over Johnson State. Hunt enjoyed another solid outing with two goals and five assists while Zach Chaisson '14 (Concord, N.H.) and Paul Dolewa '12 (Saco, Maine) both notched four goals for Saint Joseph's.

Following losses to Lasell and Mount Ida – teams that would later face off in the GNAC Championship, the Monks recorded the first four-game winning streak in program history with victories over Rivier College, Daniel Webster, Becker College and Emerson College – all conference foes - in a matter of 11 days. St. Joe's outscored the quartet of GNAC opponents by a 63-16 margin.

Despite falling to Norwich University, 11-7, in the regular-season finale, the Monks' GNAC win streak set the team up to host a conference tournament tilt for the first time in the four-year history of the men's lacrosse program. St. Joe's, the #4 seed, played host to #5 Becker College on April 26th and edged the Hawks, 10-9, as Driscoll made 13 stops and Chaisson netted the game-winner with seven minutes remaining in the contest.

With the quarterfinal win Saint Joseph's advanced to the semifinals where the Royal Blue faced top-seeded Mount Ida College. Driscoll again played well, but the Monks were unable to muster any offense as the Mustangs topped St. Joe's by a 13-0 margin.

The loss signaled the end of college lacrosse for SJC seniors Elliot LaMarre (Raymond, ME), Ross Hardaway (East Boston, MA), Blake Edwards (Glide, OR), David Schreiber (Lewiston, ME) and Tookie Amosun (Gardiner, ME). The quintet, which helped the team post a 26-38 record over four seasons, made up the Monks' first four-year class in program history.

Following the completion of the season, three Monks – Horgan, Hunt and ace defender Albert Comins '13 (Newbury, Mass.) – garnered All-Conference honors. Horgan became the first SJC men's lacrosse player to collect First Team honors last spring.

Hunt led the Monks in goals (39) and points (60) while Horgan paced the Royal Blue, and the conference, in assists (30) and ranked second on the squad in both goals (24) and points (54) as a junior. Comins, a two-time Second Team all-conference choice, was second on the team in ground balls (51) and caused turnovers (27) last spring.

LaMarre enjoyed another fine season as the Monks' face-off specialist with 129 victories in 228 attempts and closed out his career as the team's all-time leader in face-off wins (479), attempts (839) and win percentage (.571). He also ranks as the SJC career leader in ground balls (295) and set the Monks' single-season record in the category with 115 in 2011.

Driscoll capped his sophomore season ranked third in the GNAC in goals against average (8.65) and fourth in save percentage (.544). He set the Monks' single-season records for goalkeeper games (17), minutes (888:21), saves (153), shots faced (486) and wins (10).

Saint Joseph's led the GNAC - and ranked fifth in the country - in ground balls per game (44.33) and man-up goals (38) by wide margins last season.