PORTLAND, ME – Saint Joseph's (2-5) notched a 12-5 victory over University of Maine-Farmington (0-3) at Deering Memorial Stadium on Thursday night. Monks senior attackman Jonathan Horgan (Hingham, Mass.) led the way with three goals and three assists in the victory.
Beavers junior attackman Brandon Melville (Farmington, Maine) led off the game scoring with his first of four goals on the night when he turned a Ben Altmaier (Wilton, Maine) feed into a goal 3:49 into the contest. SJC sophomore Andrew Hamill (Wolfeboro, N.H.) countered with a man-up marker less than a minute later and freshman Dalton Eldridge (South Gardiner, Maine) put the Monks on top to stay with his third goal of the season with 6:09 remaining in the first quarter.
The Monks held a 4-2 cushion heading into the second stanza and proceeded to build a 7-2 advantage with three unanswered scores during the second period. Senior Benson Pasquarello (Kennebunk, Maine), junior Jordan Grant (Windsor, Maine) and senior Paul Dolewa (Saco, Maine) netted the SJC goals to propel the Royal Blue to a five-goal lead going into the break.
The third quarter would be no better for the visitors as the Monks outscored the Beavers by a 4-1 margin en route to taking an 11-3 advantage. Horgan opened the third with a pair of goals in just over four minutes while Dolewa and freshman Michael McGann (Lee, N.H.) also found the back of the cage in the third 15-minute frame.
St. Joe's freshman midfielder Nathan Hopkins (Scarborough, Maine) capped the Monks' scoring with his second goal of the night and Melville tallied two scores for the Beavers to close out the evening's offense.
SJC goalies Christopher Driscoll (Saco, Maine), Ethan Rettew (Ephrata, Pa.) and Jason Yasenchock (Rochester, N.H.) combined to make four stops in the victory while UMF keepers Hunter Rowell (West Paris, Maine) and Altmaier split the game in the cage and recorded 19 saves collectively.
For the Monks, freshman attackman Max Meserve (Kennebunk, Maine) enjoyed a fine showing with five assists and 10 ground balls, midfielders Alex O'Neil (Parkland, Fla.) and Stephen Bernstein ( Lynnfield, Mass.) added nine ground balls apiece, and Horgan added eight ground balls and four caused turnovers to his stat line. Bernstein was also impressive in the face-off circle, winning 18 of 21 attempts on the night.
For the Beavers, freshman defender David Cram (Northbridge, Mass.) corralled a game-high 12 ground balls and sophomore defender Mike Foley (Byfield, Mass.) added eight ground balls in a losing effort.
St. Joe's broke the team record for ground balls in a single game with 81 in tonight's victory. The previous best, 78, was posted versus Maine-Farmington last season. With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 3-0 in the history of the series with the Beavers.
The Monks held advantages in shots (57-10) and ground balls (81-56) and posted a solid 25-28 effort in clears in the victory.
Saint Joseph's will play at Anna Maria College on Saturday in a GNAC game slated to begin at 12:00 PM. Farmington hosts Husson University on Saturday at 1:00 PM.
Saint Joseph's College, founded in 1912 by the Sisters of Mercy, celebrates its Centennial year in 2012 with a theme of "Realize the Promise" – honoring our commitment to educating well-rounded graduates who combine career focus with classic liberal arts studies. A Private, Catholic, primarily residential, coeducational liberal arts institution, Saint Joseph's welcomes students of all ages and all faiths. The campus, located 18 miles northwest of Portland and just two hours from Boston, encompasses 350 acres along the shore of beautiful Sebago Lake in Standish, Maine. Enrollment ranges between 1,000 and 1,100 students annually. Saint Joseph's offers challenging academic programs in the liberal arts and sciences, education, nursing and business fields in a value-centered environment.
