STANDISH, ME – Fifth-seeded Emmanuel College (7-9, 4-5 GNAC) edged #4 Saint Joseph's College (7-10, 6-3 GNAC), 9-8, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Lacrosse Tournament quarterfinal at Westerlea Way Field on Tuesday afternoon.

Trailing 9-4 with just over four minutes to play in the fourth quarter, the Monks employed a sense of desperation and methodically chipped away at the deficit with four unanswered goals. Saint Joseph's trailed by one with 33 seconds remaining and had a prime opportunity to set up a play during a timeout after an Emmanuel turnover 14 seconds later. But the hosts' comeback bid would fall just short as the Royal Blue committed a turnover near midfield with time winding down.

For Emmanuel College, the postseason victory is the first in the brief history of either lacrosse program. Emmanuel, which began the men's program just last year and the women's team two years ago, will play at top-seeded Norwich University in a GNAC Tournament semifinal contest on Thursday, time TBD. The Cadets toppled #8 Anna Maria College by a 19-6 margin in other conference quarterfinal play this afternoon. For the Monks, the loss signals the end of the 2013 campaign.

Sophomore midfielder Dalton Eldridge (South Gardiner, Maine) led the Monks' offense with two goals and an assist and sophomore attackman Max Meserve (Kennebunk, Maine) tallied two goals and 10 ground balls in the season-ending loss. Jake Ricciardi (Sharon, Mass.), Austin Watts (Westbrook, Maine), Andrew Sullivan (Rochester, N.H.) and Jeremy Sampsonis (Shrewsbury, Mass.) also scored in the losing effort.

Senior goalkeeper Christopher Driscoll (Saco, Maine) registered 14 saves in goal while Watts and Sampsonis collected eight ground balls apiece and senior defenseman Bert Comins (Newbury, Mass.) added six ground balls and three caused turnovers on the afternoon. Freshman midfielder Jake O'Brien (Andover, Mass.) contributed with five ground balls and four caused turnovers and senior defenseman Bryan Johnson (Brookline, N.H.) chipped in with six ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers in the setback.

Freshman midfielder Chris Curtis (Ashland, Mass.) paced the Saints' offensive effort with two goals and two assists while dealing a team-high 10 shots and freshman Kaile MacLean-Daley (Moretown, Vt.) produced a pair of tallies for the visitors. Sophomore midfielder Ryan Sabuda (Indianapolis, Ind.) added a goal, two assists and eight ground balls while second-year midi Jake Jaskolski (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) recorded a goal and an assist and Brian O'Regan (Milton, Mass.) and Evan Dolber (Malden, Mass.) netted a goal apiece in the tourney triumph.

Emmanuel sophomore goalkeeper Austin Lauzier (Bedford, N.H.) was quite busy in net and made 19 saves in his team's first GNAC Tournament victory.

The Monks began the game on the right foot, as Ricciardi broke a scoreless tie with a tally off a Jordan Grant (Windsor, Maine) dish at the 9:08 mark. The lead lasted all of 40 seconds, as Curtis knotted the tourney tilt at one-apiece off a Jaskolski pass with 8:28 left in the first quarter.

The goal seemed to change the complexion of the contest, as the Saints proceeded to pot two additional markers – the first by O'Regan and another by Curtis – to secure a 3-1 lead heading into the second stanza.

Emmanuel added to the lead when Sabuda scored off a Curtis pass 2:25 into the second quarter, but the Monks finally broke a 17-minute scoring drought when Sampsonis caused a turnover near midfield, streaked to the Saints' cage and beat Lauzier with a laser from about 15 yards out.

Eldridge netted his first goal of the contest 48 seconds later to cut the Monks' deficit down to 4-3, but Jaskolski tallied a man-up marker off a Sabuda dish with 2:14 before the break to provide the visitors with a 5-3 cushion heading into intermission.

The Saints gained a 6-3 advantage when an SJC defender inadvertently put the ball in his own net 2:16 into the third quarter and made it a 7-3 game when MacLean-Daley scored a man-up goal with 9:53 remaining in the third frame. Curtis was credited with an assist on the power-play tally.

Saint Joseph's responded just 35 seconds later when Meserve netted a man-up goal of his own to lessen the Emmanuel lead to 7-4 with 9:18 left in the third. The crafty attackman scored just five seconds into the man-up situation with a nifty move, as he faked out Lauzier with a faux pass near the crease and flicked the ball into the cage for an easy goal.

The three-goal game stood for nearly seven minutes, a span during which the majority of play occurred in the heart of the field. The Monks' deficit quickly turned into five goals however, as Emmanuel received scores from MacLean-Daley and Dolber in a matter of 43 seconds late in the third stanza to claim a 9-4 lead.

Sullivan began the late surge with a goal off an Eldridge pass with 4:05 left and Meserve hit pay dirt off a Dominic Cesarini (Bow, N.H.) feed with 2:21 left to make it a 9-6 game. Watts scored the Monks' seventh goal of the afternoon on a nice individual effort and, with 33 seconds left, Eldridge made it a one-goal game with a sprinting drive that he capped with a shot to the top left corner of the net.

Ultimately, the impressive late run would fall short as the Saints managed to make a defensive stop on the Monks' final possession.

The loss signals the end of NCAA lacrosse for the Monks' senior class, which is 12 members strong. Driscoll, Comins, Johnson, Grant, Joseph Connolly (South Portland, Maine), Sam Wenckus (Pittston, Maine), Jack LaFreniere (Alton, N.H.), Blake Doherty (Burlington, Mass.), Marcus Benson (Beverly, Mass.), Sean Flanagan (Hingham, Mass.), Kyle Hanson (Portland, Maine) and David Brackett (Windham, Maine) helped the Monks post a 35-36 (.493) overall record and a 21-13 (.618) mark in GNAC play over the past four seasons and will certainly be missed as the program moves forward.

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.