GORHAM, Maine -- Sophomore Keegan Smith (West Gardiner, Maine/Gardiner Area) scored two goals and dished off three assists to lead the University of Southern Maine to a 10-1 victory over rival Saint Joseph's College in a non-conference men's lacrosse match Wednesday afternoon at Hannaford Field.
The win was the third straight for the Huskies, and improved their overall record to 6-2. The Huskies are off to their best start through eight games in the history of the program dating back to 2001. The Monks dropped their fourth straight game to fall to 5-6 on the season.
Junior Eddie Barrasso (Wilmington, Mass.) and sophomore Seth Wing (West Gardiner, Maine/Gardiner Area) complemented Wing scoring three goals apiece. Rookie goalies Zach Bessette (Readfield, Maine/Maranacook) and John Bossi (Billerica, Mass.) combined to make 11 saves in the Husky cage.
Rookie Matt Donnell (Watertown, Mass.) scored the lone goal for the Monks. Senior Ethan Rettew (Ephrata, Pa.) and rookie Connor Trainor (Franklin, Mass.) split the goaltending chores. Rettew made 12 stops in the first half while Trainor had seven saves in the second half.
Barrasso scored the only two goals in the first quarter converting on an assist from Smith at 9:41, then taking a pass from junior Jaymz McStowe (Plymouth, Mass.) and beating Rettew at 6:16.
Wing made it 3-0 just past the midway point in the second quarter after taking a feed from Smith. Smith would get on the goal-scoring side of the ledger in the final minute of the quarter to give the Huskies a 4-0 lead at the intermission.
Junior Austin Watts (Westbrook, Maine), Smith and Wing scored in the third quarter to push the Huskies' advantage to 7-0. Donnell finally broke through for the Monks with eight seconds remaining in the quarter.
Wing, senior Burleigh Desjardins (Brunswick, Maine) and Barrasso found the net in the fourth quarter for the Huskies to account for the final tally.
Southern Maine rolled up a 49-19 advantage in shots taken and won the battle of the ground balls 39-17. USM dominated the faceoffs winning 13 of 15. Sophomore Ryan Saul (Lancaster, Pa.) was successful on 10 of 12 draws. McStowe was 3 for 3 on faceoffs and scooped up a team-high six ground ball. The Huskies were successful on all 22 clear attempts while the Monks were successful on 20 of 28 clears.
The Huskies are back in action on Saturday (1:00 p.m.) when they host the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth for a Little East Conference game. The Monks will host Johnson and Wales University on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) at Memorial Field in Portland for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference match.
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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.
