PORTLAND, Maine – Lasell College (6-3, 3-1 GNAC) held a 7-1 lead at intermission and held off a late surge to defeat Saint Joseph's College (5-4, 2-2 GNAC), 13-9, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse contest at Deering Memorial Stadium on Wednesday night. Freshman Brendan Barrett (East Sandwich, Mass.) totaled two goals, two assists and three ground balls in the losing effort.
Saint Joseph's trailed by eight, 12-4, with 8:02 left in the fourth quarter but managed to post a comeback effort that would ultimately fall short, as the Monks netted five of the game's final six goals, including four unanswered in the final four minutes, before running out of time.
The visiting Lasers started the conference contest on a 5-0 run with goals from five different players, as senior midfielder Joe Cunning (Newton, Mass.) opened the scoring at the 13:31 mark of the first quarter and sophomore midfielder Anthony Saitta (Derry, N.H.) closed the offensive run 6:33 into the second stanza to set the stage for what looked to be a long night for the Monks. Freshman midfielder Austin Tomasetti (Elmsford, N.Y.) was credited with an assist on both of the aforementioned goals for Lasell.
Senior midfielder Brad Loomis (Saunderstown, R.I.) put the Monks on the board with his ninth goal of the year, an unassisted tally with 4:45 left in the second frame, but the hosts were unable to gain momentum off the score as the Lasers received goals from Robbie Palazzo (Redding, Conn.) and Tomasetti to make it a 7-1 game heading into intermission.
The teams played even in the third quarter with two goals apiece as Lasell junior attack Casey Sullivan (Quaker Hill, Conn.) scored a pair and junior midfielder Dom DiRupo (Wilmington, Mass.) and freshman attack Luigi Grimaldi (Portland, Maine) both scored for the Monks to make it a 9-3 game heading into the final period.
The Lasers kicked off the fourth-quarter scoring with a Pat Egan (Glen Rock, N.J.) marker exactly one minute into the closing frame and junior Jake O'Brien (Andover, Mass.) answered 2:27 later to make it a 10-4 contest with 11:33 left. Josh Gallant (Hampstead, N.H.) and LaPorte both scored for the visitors to extend the Lasell lead to a game-high eight goals (12-4) with 8:02 on the clock.
Lasers senior Jason Donovan (Weymouth, Mass.) countered a Dalton Eldridge (South Gardiner, Maine) with a strike at the 5:42 stamp before the Royal Blue rattled off four straight, starting with a pair scored just 42 seconds apart from Barrett. Freshman midfielder Matt Donnell (Watertown, Mass.) made it a 13-8 game with his lone goal of the evening at the 2:57 mark and Eldridge netted his second with 53 seconds remaining to account for the 13-9 final.
For Saint Joseph's, Eldridge netted a pair with an assist and four ground balls, Donnell added a marker with a pair of helpers, and O'Brien tallied a goal and an assist with a team-high five ground balls in the loss. Freshman goalie Connor Trainor (Franklin, Mass.) made 12 saves between the pipes and freshman midi Cam Zaborowski (Littleton, Mass.) won 11 of 24 face-off bids on the evening.
For Lasell, Egan and Sullivan both registered two goals and a pair of assists, LaPorte added two goals and a dime, and Tomasetti scored and notched two assists. Freshman Brendan Dwyer (Northport, N.Y.) won eight of 15 face-off attempts and junior goalie David Walen (Longmeadow, Mass.) recorded 17 saves in the conference win.
Lasell held advantages in shots (41-39) and face-offs (13-11) while St. Joe's owned a 28-24 lead in ground balls in the conference contest. A very physical game, the teams combined for 21 total penalties on the night.
With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 0-5 in the history of the series with Lasell College, a team that defeated the Monks by a 9-6 score last spring.
Both teams face conference opponents on Saturday, when Saint Joseph's travels to Rivier University for a 1:00 PM start and Lasell plays host to Johnson & Wales University, a game that also begins at 1:00 PM.
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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 474-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.
