PORTLAND, ME – Saint Joseph's College (4-3, 3-1 GNAC) routed Daniel Webster College (0-5, 0-5 GNAC), 17-2, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse action at Deering Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Junior Max Meserve (Kennebunk, Maine) tallied five goals and three assists in the triumph.
The Monks quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead with goals from Andrew Hamill (Wolfeboro, N.H.), Jake O'Brien (Andover, Mass.) and Meserve in the first four minutes of play and headed into the second quarter up 5-0. Freshman David Downie (Merrimack, N.H.) finally put the Eagles on the board and made it an 8-1 game with 9:16 left in the second stanza, but the visitors would get no closer to the lead as the hosts received scores from Meserve, Andrew Sullivan (Rochester, N.H.) and Mark LaPierre (Wayland, Mass.) to stake an 11-1 cushion heading into halftime.
Seven different players scored in the SJC victory, with Hamill notching three goals and an assist, LaPierre and Sullivan netting two markers with a pair of helpers apiece and O'Brien contributing two tallies and an assist on the afternoon. Senior Jake Ricciardi (Sharon, Mass.) scored twice and junior Brandon Boutin (Hackettstown, N.J.) added a goal and an assist and Billy Cooke (Pelham, N.H.) chimed in with five ground balls and a game-high four caused turnovers while senior Ahmed Dorghoud (Alexandria, Va.) won 11 of 19 face-off attempts in the win.
Downie, who also scored a man-up goal early in the third quarter, netted both of the Daniel Webster markers and sophomore Anthony Cotoni (Groton, Mass.) tallied a game-high 10 ground balls with five face-off victories in the conference loss.
In goal, juniors Ethan Rettew (Ephrata, Pa.) and Jason Yasenchock (Rochester, N.H.) split time with the former earning the win with four saves in the first half and the latter posting a pair of stops in 30 minutes of mop-up duty.
Daniel Webster sophomore keeper Curtis Larade (Merrimack, N.H.) was solid in the cage, making 18 saves, including several at close range, in a losing bid.
Overall, Saint Joseph's owned sizeable advantages in shots (58-16), ground balls (44-31) and caused turnovers (26-9) and was successful on 21 of 26 clear attempts in the triumph. The Monks were 3-6 in extra-man opportunities while holding the Eagles to a 1-5 effort in the same scenario.
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 6-0 in the history of the series with Daniel Webster College, a team the Monks defeated by a 9-3 score last spring.
Saint Joseph's returns to action on Monday when the Monks play host to University of Maine-Farmington in a 7:30 PM start at Deering Memorial Stadium. Daniel Webster hosts GNAC-rival Norwich University at 4:00 PM on Tuesday.
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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.
