STANDISH, Maine – Norwich University (10-4, 7-1 GNAC) defeated Saint Joseph's College (12-4, 6-2 GNAC), 12-8, in what was the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) season finale for both teams in men's lacrosse action at the SJC Athletics Complex on Tuesday evening.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:
With the result, Norwich has clinched the #2 seed in the upcoming conference tournament while Saint Joseph's is seeded third in the tourney, which begins with a quarterfinal round on Saturday. Both teams will host first round contests with opponents to be determined when all conference results are complete later tonight.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The third quarter proved to be the decisive frame in tonight's conference clash, as the Cadets broke free of a 4-4 stalemate at the half by outscoring the hosts, 4-1, in the penultimate period.
Trailing 8-5 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Monks took advantage of a man-up scenario with senior Michael Finn (Quincy, Mass.) hitting pay dirt to make it a two-goal game with 14:43 remaining.
Back at full strength, the Cadets responded with goals from Jack Anzalone (Ridgewood, N.J.) and Cody Moore (Canton, N.Y.) in a matter of two minutes to essentially put the contest out of reach.
Norwich mounted a 2-0 lead in the first eight minutes of play and held a 4-2 cushion heading into the second stanza. Saint Joseph's countered with the only goals scored in the second quarter, as senior Daniel Cunningham (West Islip, N.Y.) potted a man-up strike and freshman Devin Linscott (Nashua, N.H.) added his 16th of the year to knot the contest at 4-4 going into intermission.
THE KEEPERS:
SJC sophomore Logan Skinner (Irving, Texas) made 16 saves in the losing effort while Norwich sophomore Nick Kandra (Crofton, Md.) posted eight stops for the Cadets.
TEAM STATS:
Norwich held the advantage in shots (41-33, shots on goal (28-16), ground balls (45-25), and face-off wins (16-7) while both teams committed 18 turnovers on the evening. The Cadets were 11-for-13 on clear attempts while the Monks went 12-for-22 on clearing bids.
MILESTONE MET:
With an assist on Finn's man-up marker early in the fourth quarter, sophomore attack Shane Puleo (Nashua, N.H.) became the seventh player in program history to reach the 100-point plateau. Puleo, who tallied a goal and two assists tonight, entered the contest with 34 goals and 63 assists for 97 points in 33 career games.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Finn netted two goals on five shots
- Sophomore Zack Hamilton (Pepperell, Mass.) tallied two goals and three ground balls
- Sophomore Brendan Martin (Nashua, N.H.) tacked on a goal and an assist with two ground balls
- Senior Cornelius Koch (Quincy, Mass.) picked up a team-high four ground balls
- Senior Raymond Emery (Abington, Mass.) added two ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers
LEADERS – NORWICH:
- Freshman Parker Campbell (Rockaway, N.J.) scored two goals on five shots with four assists
- Anzalone tallied three goals, two assists, and five ground balls
- Moore notched three goals and an assist with four ground balls
- Senior Joseph Santangelo (Fallston, Md.) was 16-for-22 on face-off attempts with eight ground balls
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
Saint Joseph's is now 0-11 all-time versus Norwich University. In the last meeting between the conference counterparts, the Cadets topped the Monks, 17-8, in a GNAC Tournament semifinal in Northfield, Vermont on May 2nd, 2018.