CASTINE, Maine – The Saint Joseph's College men's lacrosse team (1-0) kicked off the 2021 campaign with an 18-7 victory over Maine Maritime Academy (0-1) on Sunday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Monks came out firing and dominated play in the first quarter, as the visitors racked up six unanswered goals and outshot the Mariners by a 14-2 margin in the opening stanza. Senior Glenn Dion (Pembroke, N.H.) initiated the scoring with an unassisted tally at the 10:18 mark while fellow seniors Brendan Martin (Nashua, N.H.) and Shane Puleo (Nashua, N.H.) netted two goals apiece to stake the Royal Blue to a sizeable lead.
Maine Maritime found the board 2:38 into the second quarter when Jacob Belanger (Brunswick, Maine) potted a man-up marker and the in-state rivals swapped scores over the subsequent eight minutes as St. Joe's held an 8-3 lead with 4:10 to play in the first half. Sophomore attack Max Lacy (Salisbury, N.H.) singlehandedly lifted his team to an 11-3 cushion with three goals – including two man-up strikes – in a matter of just 48 seconds as the visitors carried an eight-goal lead into intermission.
Martin and freshman Jacob Radwan (Strafford, N.H.) both scored in the opening five minutes of the third period to extend the Monks' advantage to 10 goals (13-3) and Saint Joseph's took a 15-5 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Mariners cut their deficit down to 15-7 with a pair of quick strikes early in the final frame, but the Monks stemmed the tide by netting three straight tallies to finish out the game and account for the 18-7 final.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (48-40), shots on goal (35-13), ground balls (38-32), and face-off wins (15-12) and was 19-for-25 on clear attempts with 23 turnovers on the afternoon. Maine Maritime was 15-for-26 on clearing bids and committed 33 turnovers in the setback.
THE KEEPERS:
Junior Michael Janocha (Southampton, Mass.) picked up the win after making four saves over 35 minutes of play while sophomore Brannon Gilbert (Gray, Maine) turned away a pair of shots in 25 minutes of relief duty.
Maine Maritime netminder Garrett Ruszkowski (Saugus, Mass.) took the loss after making 17 saves in a complete-game performance.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Martin headed up the SJC attack with five goals and two assists and added three ground balls
- Puleo scored three goals with four assists, two ground balls, and a pair of caused turnovers
- Lacy found the back of the cage four times with two helpers and three ground balls
- Junior Wyatt LeBlanc (Arundel, Maine) added a goal and two assists
- Freshman Adam Enscoe (Rochester, N.H.) a game-high eight ground balls and was 10-for-15 on face-off attempts
- Senior Jason Barrett (East Sandwich, Mass.) picked up five ground balls and caused four turnovers
- Senior Alex Osmanski (Abington, Mass.) chipped in with four ground balls and two caused turnovers
LEADERS – MAINE MARITIME:
- Jayden Wilson (Lewiston, Maine) scored three goals and added an assist
- Jed Astbury (Bridgewater, Vt.) picked up five ground balls and was 12-for-27 in the face-off circle
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win Saint Joseph's improves to 3-4 all-time versus Maine Maritime Academy and has now defeated the Mariners in three-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2018 season.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's returns to action on March 17th when the Monks host University of Southern Maine at 4:00 PM.
