STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (4-2) held off Emerson College (0-6), 11-8, in a non-conference men's lacrosse game at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Saint Joseph's controlled the pace of play early and held a 5-1 lead after senior Michael Finn (Quincy, Mass.) scored off a Shane Puleo (Nashua, N.H.) pass with 4:54 left in the second quarter.
Emerson came to life in the minutes leading up to intermission with two goals in a matter of 63 seconds and kicked off the third period with three unanswered strikes, as a Skyler Celotto (Westport, Conn.) tally lifted the visitors to a 6-5 edge with 6:26 left in the penultimate quarter.
Less than a minute later senior Tyler Retalic (Framingham, Mass.) scored on a terrific individual effort, dodging between a group of Lion defenders, to tie the game and ignite a 5-0 run for the hosts, who held a 10-6 cushion after freshman Devin Linscott (Nashua, N.H.) netted his fourth goal of the afternoon with 9:26 remaining.
The Lions made things interesting late in the final frame however, as freshman Alex Hrisanthopoulos (Carlsbad, Calif.) and senior Jared Brush (Detroit, Mich.) scored just six seconds apart to make it a 10-8 game with 1:34 left. The Monks forced a turnover on the ensuing Emerson possession and the Lions committed a penalty with 27 seconds left to all but clinch the victory for St. Joe's.
THE KEEPERS:
Saint Joseph's sophomore Logan Skinner (Irving, Texas) played very well in the victory with 11 saves and five ground balls while his counterpart, Emerson freshman Malcolm McGrath (Ridgefield, Conn.) steered away nine shots in a losing effort.
TEAM STATS:
The Monks held the lead in shots (45-31) and caused turnovers (8-7) while the Lions maintained an advantage in face-off wins (19-3) and ground balls (40-37) on the afternoon.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Linscott netted four goals on eight shots
- Retalic tallied three goals and an assist with two ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers
- Sophomore Zack Hamilton (Pepperell, Mass.) scored two goals with two assists and a pair of ground balls
- Puleo dealt three assists and picked up three ground balls
- Senior Daniel Cunningham (West Islip, N.Y.) added a goal and an assist with four ground balls
- Finn scored a goal with a team-high six ground balls
LEADERS – EMERSON:
- Brush scored four goals on 10 shots and added an assist
- Freshman Hunter Gervais (Johnston, R.I.) added two goals and an assist
- Junior Austin Franklin (New Bedford, Mass.) was credited with four assists and four ground balls
- Celotto netted a goal and an assist with six ground balls
- Junior face-off midi Austin DiPietro (Clermont, Fla.) won 19 of 22 face-off attempts with 15 ground balls
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 5-1 all-time versus Emerson College, a former conference opponent the Monks last played during the 2013 campaign.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will play at New England College on Wednesday at 7:00 PM.