NEWTON, Mass. – Senior Austin Tomasetti (Elmsford, N.Y.) registered a career-high 10 points Wednesday afternoon to lead Lasell College to a 17-5 victory over Saint Joseph's College of Maine in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse opener for both schools at Grellier Field.
Tomasetti scored two goals and tallied a career-high eight assists for the Lasers, two shy of the school record for assists in a game and one shy of the program mark for points in a game. Senior Alex McCormack-Kuhman (Wells, Maine) and junior Mike Susi (Gorham, Maine) were the leading goal scorers for Lasell with four each, and freshman Andrew Fidalgo (Wilbraham, Mass.) chipped in with three goals and one assist.
Sophomore Ryan Janovic (East Lyme, Conn.) was solid for the Lasers in goal, making 15 saves. He helped Lasell pick up its first win of the season, improving to 1-4 overall, while Saint Joseph's drops to 4-5 overall. The Lasers are the defending GNAC champions.
The Lasers led 5-0 after one quarter, as Susi and McCormack-Kuhman scored two goals each and Tomasetti collected three assists. Junior Austin Shindoll (Denver, Colo.) and senior Greg Klaum (Floral Park, N.Y.) added goals for Lasell to start the second quarter before senior Matt Donnell (Watertown, Mass.) broke through for St. Joe's to put the Monks on the board with six minutes remaining. The Lasers tacked on two more goals before the half to hold a 9-1 advantage at the intermission. Tomasetti recorded three more assists in the second quarter.
After Tomasetti opened the third-quarter scoring for Lasell, the Monks came to life with three consecutive goals, one each by Shane Puleo (Nashua, N.H.), Donnell and Tyler Brewster (Merrimack, N.H.) to cut the margin to 10-4, but Lasell answered with six in a row over the next 12 minutes to put the game out of reach.
Sophomore Ben Werner (Boxford, Mass.) won 14-of-21 face-offs for Lasell and picked up a team-high eight ground balls. Senior Travis Duhamel (Deerfield, N.H.) collected seven ground balls and junior David Sheehan (Tewksbury, Mass.) posted a team-best four caused turnovers.
Puleo and junior Tyler Retalic (Framingham, Mass.) picked up four ground balls each to lead St. Joe's, and Donnell finished with a team-high two goals. Senior keeper Connor Trainor (Franklin, Mass.) made nine saves in 52:08 minutes while freshman Logan Skinner (Irving, Texas) posted a pair of stops in 7:52 minutes between the pipes.
Both teams are back in action with GNAC contests on Saturday, as Lasell visits Anna Maria College for a 5:00 p.m. contest and Saint Joseph's hosts Mount Ida College at 3:30 p.m.
COURTESY OF LASELL COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION
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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.