NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Saint Joseph's College (3-4, 1-0 GNAC) kicked off Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with a 17-11 victory over Albertus Magnus College (3-5, 0-1 GNAC) on Friday evening.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Saint Joseph's held at least a share of the lead for the entire contest and boasted a 12-8 cushion heading into the fourth quarter. Albertus Magnus rattled off three straight goals in the first three minutes of the final frame, cutting the SJC lead to 12-11 with 12:01 remaining, but the Monks closed out the game with five unanswered tallies – from five different players – to earn the 17-11 triumph.
THE KEEPERS:
Saint Joseph's junior Connor Trainor (Franklin, Mass.) made six saves with four ground balls in the victory while Albertus netminder John Brunetti posted 17 stops with a pair of ground balls in a losing effort.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Sophomore Michael Finn (Quincy, Mass.) netted a career-high six goals with two assists and five ground balls
- Sophomore Tyler Retalic (Framingham, Mass.) scored three goals with give ground balls
- Sophomore Daniel Cunningham (West Islip, N.Y.) added two goals and an assist with four ground balls
- Junior Joe O'Reilly (Suffern, N.Y.) scored twice with four ground balls
- Junior Matt Donnell (Watertown, Mass.) chipped in with a goal, an assist, and seven ground balls
- Junior Liam Skinner (Irving, Texas) tallied two goals, two assists, seven ground balls, and three caused turnovers
LEADERS – ALBERTUS MAGNUS:
- Jack Kerner netted four goals with three ground balls
- Greg Buck contributed two goals, an assist, and three ground balls
- James May added two goals and an assist with two ground balls
- Nicholas Pereiro picked up a game-high 12 ground balls
- Justin Bennet won 19 of 31 face-off attempts
NOTEWORTHY:
The Monks' goal total in the victory is the team's most this season and highest mark since the Royal Blue defeated Maine-Farmington by a 17-1 score on March 2nd, 2016…St. Joe's also posted a season-high 51 ground balls with just 12 turnovers, the team's fewest this spring (previous low was 21 versus Husson, 3/23) by a large margin.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 4-0 in the history of the series with Albertus Magnus College. Last season, the Monks edged the Falcons by a 15-13 margin on April 9th.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's is back in action on Tuesday when the team travels to Boston to face Emmanuel College in a 7:00 PM start.
#GOMONKS
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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.
