STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (5-6, 2-1 GNAC) slipped past Albertus Magnus College (3-5, 0-3 GNAC), 15-13, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse contest at Westerlea Way Field on Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Saint Joseph's broke up a 7-up halftime score with 7-2 scoring run spanning 21 minutes, as sophomore Luigi Grimaldi (Portland, Maine) scored three goals in a matter of two minutes and 30 seconds and sophomore Cam Boucher (Lewiston, Maine) hit pay dirt to lift the Monks to a 15-9 advantage with 8:53 left in the fourth quarter.

The Falcons made an impressive offensive push in the closing eight minutes as the visitors, aided by a two-minute locked-in penalty on the Monks, netted four unanswered goals to cut their deficit down to two (15-13) with the help of three goals from sophomore Brennan Moore (Meriden, Conn.). SJC sophomore goalie Connor Trainor (Franklin, Mass.) came up with a pair of big saves in the closing minutes to preserve the victory.

THE KEEPERS

For the Monks, Trainor finished the contest with nine saves while Albertus Magnus sophomore netminder Jack Kerner (Merrick, N.Y.) posted 10 stops in a losing effort.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

SJC HIGHLIGHTS

• Senior Jake O'Brien (Andover, Mass.) tallied five goals with two assists and seven ground balls
• Grimaldi finished the day with three goals, two assists, and three ground balls
• Sophomore Joe O'Reilly (Suffern, N.Y.) scored twice with a pair of assists and three ground balls
• Sophomore Matt Donnell (Watertown, Mass.) potted a pair with two helpers and two caused turnovers
• Sophomore Brendan Barrett (East Sandwich, Mass.) added two goals and three ground balls
• Freshman Michael Finn (Quincy, Mass.) chipped in with two assists and five ground balls
• Sophomore Liam Skinner (Irving, Texas) chimed in with five caused turnovers and three ground balls
• Sophomore Austin Havu (Buxton, Maine) was 15-30 on face-off attempts and picked up seven ground balls

AMC HIGHLIGHTS

• Moore paced the Falcons' offense with five goals and two assists
• Sophomore Paul Mirmina (Milford, Conn.) tallied four goals, an assist, and three ground balls
• Junior Greg Buck (Berlin, Conn.) scored twice with two assists and six ground balls
• Junior Justin Bennet (Fairfield, Conn.) added a goal and an assist with a game-high nine ground balls and two caused turnovers while winning 12 of 21 face-off bids
• Senior Adam Earl (Hamden, Conn.) was a force for the Falcons and recorded three assists, five ground balls, and four caused turnovers
• Sophomore Thomas Gillen (Port Jervis, N.Y.) chipped in with a goal and two assists

TEAM STATS

Saint Joseph's held advantages in shots (46-41), ground balls (40-30), turnovers (23-25), and caused turnovers (14-11) while clearing successfully on 19 of 21 attempts and converting three of five man-up chances. Albertus Magnus was 18-23 on clearing bids and was 3-11 in man-up situations.

NOTEWORTHY

For the men's lacrosse program, today's contest marks the first time the team has played on campus since the Monks suffered a 9-8 defeat at the hands of Emmanuel College in a GNAC Tournament Quarterfinal on April 23rd, 2013.

D3 WEEK

Saint Joseph's is among numerous NCAA DIII institutions across the country participating in the annual DIII Week festivities. During halftime of today's game, the Monks held a brief ceremony to honor Dr. Thomas Hancock, who teaches in the Education Department at Saint Joseph's. Freshman men's soccer player James Stevens (Marshfield, Mass.) presented Dr. Hancock with a small gift at midfield in appreciation of his work in helping SJC student-athletes reach their goals, both in and out of the classroom.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 3-0 in the history of the series with Albertus Magnus College, a team the Monks defeated by a 13-7 score in New Haven last spring.

NEXT!

Both teams return to action with conference contests on Wednesday, when Saint Josephs' plays at Lasell College in a 4:00 PM start and Albertus Magnus hosts Anna Maria College in a 7:00 PM start.

#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.