NEWTON, MA – Lasell College (3-3, 2-0 GNAC) scored four unanswered goals in the fourth quarter to defeat Saint Joseph's College (3-2, 2-1 GNAC), 9-6, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon. Monks junior goalie Ethan Rettew (Ephrata, Pa.) made 16 saves in the losing effort.
Jake O'Brien (Andover, Mass.) led the way for Saint Joseph's with a pair of goals while Max Meserve (Kennebunk, Maine) and Andrew Sullivan (Rochester, N.H.) each added a goal and an assist. Andrew Hamill (Wolfeboro, N.H.) and Jake Ricciardi (Sharon, Mass.) also scored in the loss and rounded out the ledger for the Monks.
Casey Sullivan (Waterford, Conn.) finished with three goals and one assist for the Lasers while Josh Gallant (Hampstead, N.H.) tallied a career-high three goals in the conference win. Aaron LaPorte (Gorham, Maine) chipped in a pair of goals while Andrew Suh (Colchester, Conn.) notched a goal and Joe Cunning (Newton, Mass.) added two assists on the afternoon. David Walen (Longmeadow, Mass.) stopped 14 shots in goal for the hosts.
Sullivan scored the lone goal of the opening quarter to give Saint Joseph's the 1-0 lead heading into the second period. Lasell struggled to crack the Monks' defense, finally breaking through with just over four minutes to play in the half when LaPorte scored on a feed from Casey Sullivan. Gallant found the back of the net off a pass from Cunning, then the two hooked up again with 23 seconds left in the half to make it 3-1 in favor of the Lasers at intermission.
Hamill connected on a shot minutes into the third quarter and seconds later Ricciardi scored on a pass from Alex O'Neill (Parkland, Fla.) to knot the game at three-apiece with 10:15 left in the third. Less than a minute later, Meserve put the visitors in front with an unassisted tally to make it 4-3, but Casey Sullivan answered with a score off an Anthony Saitta (Derry, N.H.) feed to tie the contest at four-all with 8:02 to play in the third quarter.
O'Brien put the Monks back on top 44 seconds later and the 5-4 edge held true for the following six minutes. LaPorte equalized for Lasell with just over a minute to play in the period and the two teams went to the final 15 minutes deadlocked at 5-5.
The Lasers proceeded to put the game away with four unanswered goals in the fourth quarter, starting with a Casey Sullivan marker 1:09 into the final stanza. Gallant, Suh and Sullivan all scored to provide the hosts with a 9-5 cushion with 37 seconds remaining and O'Brien potted a man-up marker off a Dalton Eldridge (South Gardiner, Maine) pass as with 50 seconds left to account for the 9-6 final.
With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 0-4 in the history of the matchup with Lasell College. The Monks can take some solace in the fact that today's losing margin and goals allowed tally both count as team-bests versus the Lasers.
Both teams return to action on Wednesday, when Saint Joseph's hosts non-conference foe Plymouth State College at 4:00 PM and Lasell hosts GNAC-rival Mount Ida College in a 4:00 PM start.
THANKS IN LARGE PART TO LASELL COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION
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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 430-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.
