PORTLAND, ME – Saint Joseph's College (4-6, 3-0 GNAC) skated past Emerson College (2-4, 1-3 GNAC), 14-5, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse contest at Deering Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Monks opened the game by scoring the first six goals, the last of which coming off the crosse of Dalton Eldridge (South Gardiner, Maine) at the 8:05 mark of the second quarter. The Lions answered with three scores later in the second stanza to cut their deficit down to 6-3 heading into intermission, but a stout Saint Joseph's defense would allow only two additional markers during the remainder of play en route to a convincing nine-goal conference win.
The Monks' last line of defense, senior goalkeeper Christopher Driscoll (Saco, Maine), was outstanding in the victory, turning away 13 shots and allowing five goals in 60 minutes between the pipes.
Offensively, Saint Joseph's was led by sophomore Andrew Sullivan (Rochester, N.H.), who netted four goals in the team's third-consecutive GNAC triumph. Eldridge netted a trio of tallies while Andrew Hamill (Wolfeboro, N.H.) and Max Meserve (Kennebunk, Maine) produced two goals and a pair of assists apiece on the afternoon. Freshman Austin Watts (Westbrook, Maine) contributed a goal and a pair of helpers while first-year Jake O'Brien (Andover, Mass.) and junior Jake Ricciardi (Sharon, Mass.) both registered a goal and an assist versus the Lions.
Meserve added a team-high six ground balls while senior defender Bryan Johnson (Brookline, N.H.) tallied five ground balls and four caused turnovers on the afternoon.
For the Lions, junior Max Smith (Gillette, N.J.) netted a hat trick and Brandon Lavoie scored a pair of goals in the setback. Senior defender Bill Leopold (Fairfield, Conn.) contributed 11 ground balls and five caused turnovers – both game-high totals – for the visitors.
Emerson keeper Clayton Fisk recorded 16 saves in a losing effort.
With the result, Saint Joseph's improves to 4-1 in the history of the series with Emerson College and has now defeated the Lions in four-consecutive meetings.
Saint Joseph's returns to action on Wednesday with a conference contest at Rivier University (4:00 PM). Emerson plays at Mount Ida College on Tuesday at 3:30 PM.
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.