PORTLAND, ME – Saint Joseph's College (2-4, 1-0 GNAC) edged Anna Maria College (2-3, 0-1 GNAC), 6-5, in what was the 2013 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse season-opener for both teams at Deering Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
In a low-scoring defensive battle, nearly half (five) of the game's goals were scored in the closing seven minutes of play. AMCATS senior midfielder Chris Summers (Long Valley, N.J.) tied the game on a pair of occasions during this spell, but Saint Joseph's junior Andrew Hamill (Wolfeboro, N.H.) capped the scoring with the game-winner off a Max Meserve (Kennebunk, Maine) feed with 59 seconds remaining in regulation.
Scoring was scarce in the first quarter, as Jake Ricciardi (Sharon, Mass.) netted the only marker of the opening frame off an Andrew Sullivan (Rochester, N.H.) pass at the 12:04 mark. The 1-0 lead remained until 4:39 passed in the second quarter, when freshman Jake O'Brien (Andover, Mass.) tallied an unassisted marker to double the SJC cushion.
Sullivan proceeded to make it a 3-0 contest in favor of the Monks with a goal off an Austin Watts (Westbrook, Maine) dish at the 7:59 mark of the second stanza, but the AMCATS answered with a pair of goals in a two-minute time frame to cut their deficit down to one goal with 4:09 before the break. Anna Maria freshman attack Lucas Stralka (East Greenwich, R.I.) finally put his team on the board with an unassisted score at the 6:09 mark of the second frame and assisted on a Rod Henriques (Saugus, Mass.) goal exactly two minutes later.
The 3-2 score held true until Sullivan netted a man-up goal off a Hamill pass with 25 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The AMCATS responded with a Scott Henry (Coventry, R.I.) goal 2:56 into the final quarter and Summers knotted the game at four-apiece with his first score of the afternoon, a man-up marker with 6:56 left in regulation.
St. Joe's freshman midfielder Dalton Eldridge (South Gardiner, Maine) put the Monks back on top when he scored on a beautiful bounce shot to the top right corner 2:24 later. Summers responded in kind with his second tally at the 3:56 mark, but Hamill put the game away with his sixth goal of the season with 59 seconds to play.
The final minute did not lack for drama, however. Quickly after Hamill's goal was scored, the Monks were flagged for a pair of penalties and were briefly down three players after freshman Jeremy Sampsonis (Shrewsbury, Mass.) was nailed with a slashing penalty with 34 seconds on the game clock. The AMCATS managed to record just two shots in the final minute, as Saint Joseph's senior keeper Christopher Driscoll (Saco, Maine) stopped a Stralka shot with 32 seconds left and wisely sent the ball deep downfield, where Meserve picked up the sphere to run out the clock and preserve the triumph.
Playing shorthanded due to a handful of injuries suffered by contributing players, the Monks employed suffocating defense and a goalkeeper in Driscoll who stood on his head on several occasions to open the conference docket with a victory. Driscoll, a four-year starter, made 20 saves and scooped up four ground balls in the win.
For the Monks, Sullivan tallied two goals and an assist with six ground balls and Sampsonis registered team-highs with eight ground balls and five caused turnovers.
Anna Maria freshman netminder Joshua Giarratano (Warwick, R.I.) recorded 12 stops in a losing effort. Henriques collected a game-high 12 ground balls and sophomore defender Nathan Batallas (Baldwinsville, Mass.) added nine ground balls and five caused turnovers on the afternoon.
The AMCATS held advantages in shots (47-31), ground balls (64-63) and face-off wins (7-6) in a losing bid. The Monks led in caused turnovers (26-18) and both teams were 15 for 18 in clear attempts.
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 2-0 in the short history of the series with Anna Maria College. The Monks tipped the AMCATS by a 13-11 margin in the only other meeting between the programs, a game played on March 24th, 2012 in Paxton, Massachusetts.
For the Monks, the six goals scored in today's triumph ties the program record for fewest goals scored in a victory. The mark was originally set when Saint Joseph's defeated University of Southern Maine by the same score on March 7th, 2011. Saint Joseph's is now 6-46 when scoring fewer than 10 goals in a contest.
Both teams face GNAC opponents in 7:00 PM starts on Tuesday evening when Saint Joseph's plays at Emmanuel College and Anna Maria travels to Rivier University.
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 350-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.
