STANDISH, Maine – Grad attack Xavier Michaud (Wales, Maine) scored six goals, including the game clincher with 15 seconds remaining, to help lift Saint Joseph's College (5-6, 2-2 GNAC) past Rivier University (4-5, 2-2 GNAC), 16-15, in an evenly matched Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) North Division men's lacrosse contest at the SJC Athletics Complex on Thursday evening.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
In a contest that featured 13 tie scores and seven lead changes where neither team led by more than two goals, the Monks managed to pull out the victory by netting three of the game's final four goals in the closing nine minutes.
The Raiders held a 10-9 edge going into intermission and the teams swapped scores in the third quarter as the visitors clung to a 12-11 advantage at the start of the fourth frame. Michaud netted his first of three fourth-quarter tallies off the opening face-off and the rivals faced a 14-14 deadlock when he hit pay dirt again at the 8:36 mark. Grad Nathaniel Girardin (Brunswick, Maine) provided the hosts with their first lead, 15-14, since midway through the second stanza with his second goal of the afternoon just over a minute later.
Nearly six minutes elapsed before either team notched another goal, as Rivier senior Coby Mercier (Boscawen, N.H.) tied the game one last time with 1:36 on the game clock. Freshman Zander Kirk (Bath, Maine) won the ensuing face-off and, after an SJC timeout, the Monks held the ball until Michaud unleashed shot to the upper left corner of the net for what proved to be the winning goal.
One of the key stretches of the game proved to be a strong stretch of defense early in the third quarter, when the Monks forced the Raiders to turn the ball over three times on shot clock violations.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (47-44), ground balls (35-28), caused turnovers (7-6), and face-off wins (19-14) while Rivier posted a 29-28 edge in shots on goal.
THE KEEPERS:
SJC freshman starter Reed Wescott (Windham, Maine) made 11 saves with four ground balls to pick up the win while junior Liam Greene (Mansfield, Mass.) posted a pair of stops in 1:52 of sub duty during a penalty that was assessed to Wescott.
Rivier senior netminder Sawyer Gagnon (Gorham, Maine) turned away 12 shots in a losing effort.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Kirk was 19-for-30 on face-off attempts with a game-high 10 ground balls; his FO win total is the most by an SJC player since Shane Fors '20 won a team record 22 attempts against March 27th, 2019 and third-highest mark in program history
- Michaud scored six goals on eight shots with a pair of ground balls
- Sophomore Tiger Hopkins (Leeds, Maine) scored four goals with an assist and three ground balls
- Sophomore Matt Denman (Brentwood, N.H.) chipped in with two goals, two assists, and four ground balls
- Senior Tim Goodfellow (Wayland, Mass.) added a goal and three assists
- Girardin scored twice with three ground balls
LEADERS – RIVIER:
- Junior Chris Heitmiller (Nashua, N.H.) netted six goals on 12 shots with three ground balls
- Junior Michael Zapatka (Newington, Conn.) tallied three goals and three assists
- Mercier added two goals and two assists with five ground balls
- Senior Connor Eck (Franklin, Mass.) chipped in with three goals and an assist
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 10-5 all-time versus Rivier University, a team that defeated the Monks in regular-season meetings in each of the last two years.
NEXT!
The Monks return to action with a conference contest at home versus Dean College on Wednesday, April 3rd. Opening face-off is set for 6:00 PM.
