BANGOR, ME – Husson University (1-1) defeated Saint Joseph's (0-1), 10-4, in a non-conference men's lacrosse contest on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore midfielder Jake Ricciardi (Sharon, Mass.) netted a pair of goals in the Monks' season-opening setback.
The game was originally scheduled to be a home contest for St. Joe's at Deering Memorial field in Portland and, due to heavy snowfall, was moved to Husson's campus where the teams were met by steady rain and temperatures in the mid 30's.
All four of the Monks' goals were of the unassisted variety as senior midfielder Benson Pasquarello (Kennebunk, Maine) and sophomore defender Dominic Cesarini (Bow, N.H.) each found the back of the cage in a losing effort. Junior netminder Christopher Driscoll (Saco, Maine) was busy between the pipes and stopped 13 of the 23 shots he faced on the afternoon.
The Eagles were led by Wayne Stubbs (Keene, N.H.) who pumped in four goals, getting five of his eight shots on the cage from the crease-attack position. Nick Brown (Fort Worth, Texas) picked up four points, scoring a goal and assisting on three more, while Ben Landry (Lewiston, Maine) added a hat-trick for good measure. Mike Craig (Kennebunk, Maine) and Dillon Shaw (Augusta, Maine) each had two points, on a goal and an assist from the midfield position.
Husson jumped out to an early lead, as Stubbs scored his first just 52 seconds into the game off a nice feed from Brown. Shaw won the ensuing faceoff -on his way to going 11-3 from the dot - and threw the outlet pass up field, finding Stubbs who made a nifty behind-the-back shot for the score only six seconds later. St. Joe's would answer five minutes later on Pasquarello's tally, bringing the game back to within one. Landry responded with his first at 5:13, and the period closed with Husson leading 3-1.
Shaw took advantage of an illegal procedure to open the second quarter, picking up the ball and going straight to the cage, putting one past the goalie for the score. Three minutes later with a man advantage, Brown scored off a feed from Alex Ryan (Northfield, N.H.) to go up 5-1. Landry scored his second from Craig a minute later to extend the Husson lead to 5 goals, their largest of the first half. Ricciardi scored his first with 6:46 left in the second quarter, and when the two teams broke for half time, the score was 6-2 in favor of the Eagles.
St. Joe's came out strong to start the second half, scoring two unanswered goals, first from Cesarini at 12:03 in the quarter, and the second from Ricciardi (his second) at 7:20, bringing the Monks to within two goals at 6-4. Craig, Husson's long stick midfielder, whipped one in with 5:07 remaining in the third to halt the comeback attempt by the visitors. With a man advantage, Brown found Landry just outside the crease where the senior attackman finished his hat trick with a shot straight over the top. Thirty seconds later, Chris Lloyd (Oxford, Maine) found Stubbs on the doorstep and he finished the play for his third of the game, giving Husson a 9-4 lead which they took to the end of the period.
The wet conditions were the most evident in the fourth quarter as neither offense was able to mount a sustained attack. Finally, with 3:21 left to play and with the man advantage, Chris Pelletier (Rome, Maine) found Stubbs in space once again, and he did well to finish, for his fourth of the day, giving the Eagles the lead 10-4, which they would carry to the final whistle.
On the day, Husson led in nearly every statistical category, mounting 44 shots to the Monks' 32, picking up 49 ground balls compared to 29 by the visitors, winning 13 of the 17 face offs, clearing 87% of their chances while St. Joe's was 15-25 in clears. Husson was 3-7 on extra man opportunities, while they killed off all eight of the Monks' man-up chances.
With the loss Saint Joseph's falls to 0-4 in the history of the series with Husson University.
Saint Joseph's will play a pair of games next week at Deering Memorial Field in Portland, taking on Thomas College at 4:30 PM on Tuesday and Southern Maine, also at 4:30 PM, on Thursday.
The Eagles will play three games while the rest of the University is on spring break, traveling to Massachusetts to take on Anna Maria at 7:00 pm on Tuesday the 6th, and Curry College 3:30 pm on Thursday the 8th before returning home to host the Massachusetts Maritime Academy at 12:00 pm on Sunday March 11th at Boucher Field.
COURTESY OF HUSSON UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
