NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's lacrosse team received multiple-goal games from five different players as the Cadets extended their unbeaten streak against Saint Joseph's College of Maine to 12 games with a 13-9 win on Sabine Field on Saturday afternoon. The game was the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener for each team.
In a game that showcased highly contrasting styles of play, the teams looked poised to battle down to the wire after the end of the first half.
Norwich (2-1, 1-0 GNAC) opened the scoring when senior Clyde Tamburro (Elizabethtown, Pa.) broke a five-minute scoreless drought when he evaded a defender and scored on a backhanded shot while diving out from behind the crease.
Saint Joseph's (2-3, 0-1 GNAC) responded right off the subsequent faceoff as sophomore Max Lacy (Salisbury, N.H.) broke in on a part-breakaway to find the back of the net. The Monks followed that up with another goal three minutes later to take a 2-1 lead. Senior Shane Puleo (Nashua, N.H.) found classmate Brendan Martin (Nashua, N.H.) in front of the next for his 20th marker of the season.
The Cadets strung together three goals spanning the end of the first quarter and the start of the second to recapture the lead at 4-2 with less than two minutes expired in the second period.
SJC outscored the hosts 3-1, including Martin's NCAA leading ninth man-up goal, to close the frame and gain a share of the lead at halftime with the score knotted at 5-5.
After the Monks started the second half with an even-strength tally from Lacy, the Cadets clamped down defensively and proceeded to out-produce the visitors 8-1 over the next 25 minutes to establish a commanding 13-7 lead. Senior Payden Masaracchia (Enola, Pa.) scored two of his team-leading three goals from cross-crease passes courtesy of junior Parker Campbell (Rockaway, N.J.) to cap the run.
Martin scored his 23rd and 24th goals of the season in the final three minutes as the Cadets were content to milk the clock on offense to help secure the win.
In the end, it was the Cadets' offensive system of distributed scoring that ultimately gave them the advantage over the Monks' focused scoring attack.
Norwich outshot SJC 54-32 and won the battle on the ground picking up 37 groundballs to just 19 for the Monks.
Freshman Thomas Muraski (Keller, Texas) had his finest showing of the season at the face-off X winning 64 percent (16-of-25) of the time and picking up a game-high 12 groundballs.
Senior Nick Kandra (Crofton, Md.) picked up his second win of the season with a 10-save effort in net for the Cadets. Junior Michael Janocha (Southampton, Mass.) was saddled with his first loss of the season despite playing tremendously making a career-high 19 stops.
Masaracchia's hat trick led all Cadet snipers with graduate Jack Anzalone (Ridgewood, N.J.), seniors Connor Bourque (Goffstown, N.H), Kevin Horchak (Mullica Hill, N.J.), and Russell Gilligan (Fountain Hills, Ariz.) each netting a pair of goals. Sophomore Anthony Larson (Leominster, Mass.) was a pest all afternoon generating four caused turnovers as part of a defensive effort that creating 14 as a unit.
Martin led all scorers with five goals for the Monks. Lacy recorded two goals and an assist while Puleo tallied a trio of assists.
For the Monks, this afternoon's contest kicked off a five-game road stretch versus conference opponents. St. Joe's will play at Anna Maria College on Tuesday at 6:00 PM.
COURTESY OF NORWICH UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
