STANDISH, ME – The Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse 2012 season schedule has been released. The Monks will play 17 games this spring beginning with a home contest versus Husson University at Deering Memorial Stadium on March 3rd at 12:30 PM.
St. Joe's then plays host to Thomas College on March 6 and University of Southern Maine on March 8th before hitting the road for a pair of games during Spring Break. The Monks will travel to the New Jersey metro area for contests against FDU-Florham on March 11th and Swarthmore on March 13th.
The New England slate resumes on March 20th with a game at Salem State and continues two days later with a home match against Maine-Farmington at Memorial Stadium.
The Monks' open Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on March 24th when the team travels to Paxton, Massachusetts for a 1:00 PM tilt against Anna Maria College – a new member of the conference this spring.
Saint Joseph's hosts Plymouth State in the Monks' final non-conference game of the season on March 27th as the Royal Blue proceeds to play eight GNAC contests in a matter of three weeks heading into the conference tournament.
The GNAC swing starts with a home game at Memorial Stadium versus Daniel Webster on March 29. The Monks play host to Becker College two days later before taking on Lasell College, on April 4th, and Emerson College, on April 7th, with both games taking place on the road.
St. Joe's faces Emmanuel College, a first-year NCAA program, in what is schedule to be the first game on the SJC campus, weather permitting, on April 11th. The Monks close out the regular season with road games versus Norwich and Mount Ida on April 14th and 18th, respectively, and a home contest against Rivier College on April 21st.
The GNAC Tournament begins with a quarterfinal round on April 25th and continues with the semifinals on April 27th and the championship game on April 29th. The NCAA DIII Tournament begins on May 9th.
Saint Joseph's posted a fine effort as a fourth-year NCAA program last spring as the Monks went 10-8 overall and 4-3 in GNAC play under the watch of Head Coach Mike Edgar in 2011. In the team's first season as a GNAC member St. Joe's earned the #4 seed in the conference tourney and defeated #5 Becker College, the program's first-ever postseason victory, before falling to eventual GNAC Champion Mount Ida College in the semifinal round.
