PORTLAND, ME – Saint Joseph's (1-2) suffered a 17-6 setback at the hands of Plymouth State University (1-0) in non-conference men's lacrosse action at Deering Memorial Stadium on Thursday evening.
The contest was close early as the visiting-Panthers held a slim 4-2 lead heading into the second quarter, but Plymouth managed to net eight unanswered goals en route to a 12-2 cushion and eventual 11-goal victory.
The Panthers got on the board just 18 seconds into play when junior Scott Giusti (West Newton, Mass.) scored off a Chris Annunciata (Waltham, Mass.) feed and the Monks answered nearly five minutes later when junior Andrew Hamill (Wolfeboro, N.H.) tallied a man-up marker. Freshman Jake O'Brien (Andover, Mass.) was credited with an assist on the game-tying goal.
Plymouth State went on to score three straight goals in a matter of three minutes and Saint Joseph's junior Jake Ricciardi (Sharon, Mass.) made a 4-2 game with an unassisted marker to cap the first-quarter scoring with 2:27 left in the opening frame.
As it played out, the Monks would not hit pay dirt again for nearly 27 minutes – a span during which the Panthers poured in eight goals, including a pair of the man-up variety and a rare man-down marker, scored by junior Brett Miller (Windham, N.H.) with 7:57 remaining in the third quarter, to make it a 12-2 game.
Freshman Austin Watts (Westbrook, Maine) finally broke the hosts' scoring drought with his third goal of the young season 1:16 later, but the Panthers proceeded to twice more in the third as Shawn McEvoy (Spring, Texas) and Annunciata beat SJC keeper Christopher Driscoll (Saco, Maine) to provide their team with a 14-3 advantage.
The Monks opened up the closing quarter with three straight goals, a pair from Andrew Sullivan (Rochester, N.H.) and a man-up marker from Ricciardi, but it was too little, too late for the Royal Blue as the Panthers closed out the contest with three unanswered goals to account for the 17-6 final.
For Saint Joseph's, Ricciardi and Sullivan tallied two goals apiece and O'Brien added a pair of helpers. Freshman Jeremy Sampsonis (Shrewsbury, Mass.) picked up a team-high six ground balls with three caused turnovers and Driscoll made 12 saves in the losing effort.
For Plymouth State, Annunciate produced four goals and an assist with a game-high 10 ground balls and McEvoy put up a hat-trick effort while Miller and Aaron Boss (Keene, N.H.) scored two goals apiece. Junior Zach Frank (Wakefield, Mass.) enjoyed a solid outing with a goal, five assists and seven ground balls and Justin Vercruysse (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) registered four caused turnovers on the evening.
Panthers starting goalkeeper Jesse Kutz (Hopkinton, Mass.) made four saves in 30 minutes while freshman Bobby Noonan (Guilford, Conn.) added a pair of stops during the second half for the visitors.
Plymouth State held advantages in shots (55-19), shots on goal (29-10) and ground balls (68-33) and the teams combined for 28 total penalties. The Monks went 2-17 in man-up situations while the Panthers scored a pair of man-up goals in 11 opportunities.
Saint Joseph's resumes play on Sunday when the Monks play at Centenary College (N.J.) during the team's spring trip. Plymouth travels to University of New England on Saturday for a 1:00 PM face-off versus the Nor'easters.
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 350-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
