NEWTON, Mass. – One of 12 seniors recognized Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field, Peter Hardy (Tyngsboro, Mass.) scored six goals, catapulting himself into the 100 Point Club and leading the Mustangs to a 14-9 victory over Saint Joseph's Maine in their final Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) regular season game of the year.
The Mustangs improve to 13-4 (7-1 GNAC) and have now won seven straight games. They will have a bye in the first round of the tournament and play the winner of Rivier and Johnson & Wales next Thursday at 6:00 pm at Alumni Field in the GNAC semifinals.
Saint Joseph sees their record drop to 6-9 (3-5 GNAC). The Monks await the result of today's Rivier University/Albertus Magnus College matchup to learn their postseason fate.
Hardy led a Mount Ida comeback after the Monks had opened the game scoring four out of the first five goals.
Joe O'Reilly (Suffern, N.Y.) and Michael Finn (Quincy, Mass.) each tallied twice in that spurt, and ended the game as two of four Monks with two goals apiece.
Hardy scored in the middle of the four Monks goals, and then scored three times to open the second period, tying the game at four and then giving Mount Ida a one-goal lead.
After Dan Cunningham (West Islip, N.Y.) tied the game for the Monks again, Mount Ida rattled off four straight goals, two by Hardy, who joined the 100 point club at the 8:20 mark of the 3rd quarter, giving Mount Ida a 9-5 lead.
Mount Ida would not trail again after that run, and got reinforcements from Wyatt Sullivan (Arlington, Mass.), who had three goals and two assists and Jon Berry (Chichester, N.H.), who had a goal and four helpers.
Kyle Ton (Norwich, Conn.) and Chad Coehlo (Salem, Mass.) had two goals and two assists each.
Junior Alex Zito (Andover, Conn.) had a successful day in the face-off circle, going 18-24, and junior Cam Hayward (Derry, N.H.) made 14 saves in the victory for the Mustangs.
Connor Trainor (Franklin, Mass.) made 16 stops for the Monks, who were outshot 50-40 and trailed 46-33 in ground balls, as Zito collected 12 ground balls and Alex Veloukas (Salem, Mass.) and Joe Gengarelly (Sag Harbor, N.Y.) grabbed five apiece.
COURTESY OF MOUNT IDA COLLEGE
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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.