STANDISH, Maine – Junior Tim Goodfellow (Wayland, Mass.) and freshman Tiger Hopkins (Leeds, Maine) registered four goals and two assists apiece to help lift Saint Joseph's College (6-7, 4-2 GNAC) defeat Norwich University (4-9, 2-4 GNAC), 16-12, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse action at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The conference contest was close throughout, but the Monks managed to clinch the program's first-ever victory over Norwich after netting four consecutive goals during a five-minute span midway through the fourth quarter.
The conference rivals played through three tie scores and a pair of lead changes in the first quarter, but the hosts headed into the second stanza leading 5-3 after Hopkins netted a pair of goals.
Junior Tyler Seidel (Centreville, Md.) cut the SJC lead to 5-4 with a tally 36 seconds into the second frame, but the Monks proceeded to score three straight goals, as Goodfellow and senior Xavier Michaud (Wales, Maine) both found the back of the net in a matter of 20 seconds. Sophomore Anthony Samiotes (Hampstead, N.H.) followed with a man-down marker, his first NCAA goal, after causing a turnover deep in the Monks' end and running the length of the field to take the shot.
Trailing 8-4 with roughly 11 minutes left in the second period, the Cadets rallied with three unanswered goals, including a man-up marker from Seidel, to cut the SJC advantage down to 8-7 with 8:41 before the break. Goodfellow and Norwich senior Anthony Larson (Leominster, Mass.) swapped scores at the 8:21 and 5:36 marks, respectively, as Saint Joseph's headed into intermission holding a 9-8 edge.
Norwich junior Aaron Broom (Rye, N.H.) hit pay dirt 1:03 into the third quarter to knot the contest at 9-9. Saint Joseph's proceeded to take the lead for good, as it played out, after Hopkins and Michaud scored goals just over a minute apart to make it an 11-9 game with 7:25 remaining in the penultimate period.
Unwilling to go down without a fight, the Cadets offset a Hopkins strike with goals from Mitchell McKay (Lynnfield, Mass.) and Christian Masonius (Belmar, N.J.) – all in a two-minute window – as the Monks clung to a 12-11 lead going into the final frame.
Freshman Matt Denman (Brentwood, N.H.) kicked off the fourth quarter scoring with an unassisted tally at the 13:12 mark and the goal proved to be the start of a 4-0 run, as Michaud, Max Lacy (Salisbury, N.H.), and Goodfellow found the back of the net in rapid succession to lift the Monks to a 16-11 lead with 8:11 remaining.
The SJC defense clamped down and held the visitors off the board until freshman Alex Johnston (Franklin, Tenn.) scored with 2:13 left.
TEAM STATS:
Norwich held the lead in shots on goal (28-27), ground balls (42-30), and face-off wins (20-12) while St. Joe's posted the advantage in shots (46-43) and caused turnovers (14-12) on the afternoon.
THE KEEPERS:
SJC senior starter Brannon Gilbert (Gray, Maine) was excellent in the victory with 16 saves while his counterpart, Norwich sophomore Luke Bolland (Tolland, Conn.) posted 11 stops in a losing effort.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Hopkins netted four goals with two assists and a pair of ground balls
- Goodfellow added four goals and a pair of helpers with a game-high 13 shots
- Michaud scored three goals on six shots
- Lacy chipped in with two goals and three ground balls
- Denman scored a pair of goals on three shots
- Sophomore Tyler Moscato (West Haven, Conn.) added three assists and three ground balls
- Samiotes scored a goal with nine ground balls and six caused turnovers
LEADERS – NORWICH:
- Seidel paced the Cadets' offensive attack with three goals and two assists and picked up two ground balls
- McKay netted a pair of goals on six shots
- Junior Thomas Muraski (Keller, Texas) scored a goal with 15 ground balls and was 20-32 on face-off attempts
- Broom and Hunter Dixson (Valley Falls, N.Y) contributed a goal and an assist apiece
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
Today's victory is the Monks' first over the Cadets in 15 tries, as St. Joe's entered today's contest with an 0-14 all-time record versus Norwich University.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will host University of Saint Joseph on Friday at 4:00 PM.
