PORTLAND, Maine – University of New England (3-4) defeated Saint Joseph's College (1-4), 10-3, in a non-conference men's lacrosse contest at Deering Memorial Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
THE LEAD
Leading 6-3 heading into the fourth quarter, University of New England put the game out of reach by netting four unanswered goals, including two just seven seconds apart early in the frame when Andrew Curro (Niskayuna, N.Y.) and Sean Conger (Holden, Mass.) hit pay dirt at the 11:46 and 11:39 marks, respectively.
The in-state rivals traded strikes in the first quarter, as UNE's J.T. Oliver (Damascus, Md.) scored off a Dan Auger (Nashua, N.H.) feed 1:08 into the game and freshman Ian Forbes (Dover, N.H.) knotted the match 25 seconds later with senior Jake O'Brien (Andover, Mass.) earning an assist on the play.
In the second period, the Nor'easters took the lead for good with three consecutive markers, with Mitch Mullin (Cumberland, Maine) accounting for two of the strikes to help the visitors take a 4-1 cushion into intermission. Sophomore Matt Donnell (Watertown, Mass.) and O'Brien cut the Monks' deficit to 4-3 with goals in the first half of the third stanza, but UNE countered by scoring a pair, just over a minute apart, late in the frame and all but clinched the victory with the quick strikes around three minutes into the fourth.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S
- O'Brien played a hand in all three of the Monks' goals, netting one and assisting on the other two
- Sophomore defender Liam Skinner (Irving, Texas) tallied five caused turnovers with a pair of ground balls
- Sophomore goalie Connor Trainor (Franklin, Mass.) kept the Monks in the game until the fourth quarter and made a career-high 18 saves with four ground balls in the loss
LEADERS – UNE
- Auger registered four assists with four ground balls
- Alex Zadworny (Florence, Mass.) scored twice with three ground balls
- Sam Cloutier (Lewiston, Maine) netted a goal with two assists
- Curro and Mullin scored two goals apiece
- Connor Leggett (Sunderland, Vt.) picked up five ground balls and won six of seven face-off attempts
- The Nor'easters split time in the cage, with starter John Dusel (Wilbraham, Mass.) making four stops in the first half and David Pearson (Scarborough, Maine) adding two saves in the second.
TEAM STATS
UNE held the lead in shots (49-18), ground balls (37-20), and face-off wins (11-5) and capitalized on three of eight man-up situations with 16 clears on 19 attempts in the victory.
Saint Joseph's committed 32 turnovers (UNE had 21) and cleared on 11 of 28 attempts in the loss.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 0-4 in the history of the matchup with University of New England, Today's contest was by far the closest, as the Nor'easters defeated the Monks by a 19-goal margin (22-3, 21-2) in the first two meetings and by a 16-5 tally in Biddeford last season.
NEXT!
This Saturday, Saint Joseph's hits the road for the first of four away games with a non-conference tilt at Thomas College starting at 11:00 AM. UNE travels to Philadelphia to face Ferrum (Va.) on Saturday at 10:30 AM.
#GOMONKS
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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.
