STANDISH, Maine – Senior Xavier Michaud (Wales, Maine) scored with 1:13 left in the first overtime period to lift Saint Joseph's College (7-7, 5-2 GNAC) past University of Saint Joseph (6-8, 2-5 GNAC), 16-15, in a hotly contested Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse contest at the SJC Athletics Complex on Friday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The visiting Blue Jays had all the momentum early and held a 5-0 lead after freshman Cam Fonseca (Saunderstown, R.I.) netted a pair of goals in a matter of 43 seconds, the latter coming with 3:39 left in the opening frame.
Freshman Tiger Hopkins (Leeds, Maine) finally put the Monks on the board with an unassisted strike with 1:12 left in the first quarter and scored two of the hosts' three goals – with Michaud netting the other – early in the second stanza to make it a 5-4 game. The GNAC rivals literally swapped scores during the remainder of the period, as a Tim Goodfellow (Wayland, Mass.) tally potted 19 seconds before the break saw the visitors carry an 8-7 lead into intermission.
Michaud kicked off the third period scoring with a man-up marker at the 12:40 mark, tying the game at 8-8. But momentum quickly swung back in the Blue Jays' favor, as USJ proceeded to register four unanswered goals over the following five minutes to build a 12-8 advantage with 7:19 left in the penultimate period.
After being held scoreless for nearly 11 minutes, the Monks finally got back on the board when Goodfellow found the back of the net off a Hopkins assist with 1:53 left in the third. Sophomore Ryan Bogdanski (Southington, Conn.) closed out the third quarter scoring with his first NCAA goal, as he buried a shot after running the length of the field with 1:26 on the clock.
St. Joe's kicked off the fourth frame with three straight tallies, including a pair from freshman Matt Denman (Brentwood, N.H.), to give the hosts their first lead - 13-12 - of the afternoon with 10:41 left in regulation. Sophomore Christian Decker (Bristol, Conn.) tied the game once again with a man-up goal 26 seconds later, but the Monks looked to clinch the victory after Denman and Michaud delivered strikes at the 9:38 and 4:50 marks, respectively.
The hosts' two-goal cushion held for two minutes, as Decker hit pay dirt off a Samuel Barbetti (Guilford, Conn.) pass with 2:48 remaining. The Blue Jays went on to tie the game with 16 seconds left, as a Hail Mary pass from deep in the USJ defensive end was picked up by Decker past midfield. Decker quickly moved the ball downfield with a pass to senior Evan Baden (Burlington, Conn.), who drilled a shot to the top right corner with a strike that ultimately forced extra play.
USJ won the ensuing faceoff and sprinted toward the SJC net as Baden took one last shot to win the game in regulation play, but sophomore goalkeeper Liam Greene (Mansfield, Mass.) made a huge save with six seconds left to preserve the stalemate.
Greene also turned away a shot one minute into overtime and a costly USJ turnover gave SJC the ball with 2:15 left in the OT frame. A Goodfellow shot sailed wide before Michaud received a pass from Hopkins and steered a shot into the top of the net for the walk off win.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (52-42), shots on goal (34-29), and caused turnovers (17-7) while University of Saint Joseph posted the advantage in ground balls (49-24) and face-off wins (29-5) on the afternoon.
THE KEEPERS:
Greene earned the victory after making five saves and allowing three goals in 25:06 minutes of relief duty while senior Brannon Gilbert (Gray, Maine) yielded 12 goals and made eight stops in 37:41 between the pipes.
USJ senior netminder Trey McCann (Simsbury, Conn.) made 18 saves and gave up 16 goals in a losing effort.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Hopkins netted five goals with two assists on seven shots
- Michaud scored four goals with his first of the afternoon – off a Tyler Moscato (West Haven, Conn.) pass at the 13:37 stamp of the second quarter – marking the 100th point of his college career
- Denman added three goals and three ground balls
- Goodfellow notched two goals and an assist
- Moscato and Ryan Bogdanski chipped in with a goal and an assist apiece
- Senior Eli Arsenault (Saco, Maine) picked up five caused turnovers
- Sophomore Anthony Samiotes (Hampstead, N.H.) added four ground balls and three caused turnovers
LEADERS – UNIVERSITY OF SAINT JOSEPH:
- Decker and Baden registered four goals and an assist apiece
- Barbetti added two goals and an assist with 13 ground balls and was 17-for-22 on faceoff attempts
- Fonseca scored two goals with a pair of ground balls
- Luke von Borstel (Massena, N.Y.) was a perfect 12-for-12 on faceoff attempts and added nine ground balls
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
Saint Joseph's is now 1-1 all-time versus University of Saint Joseph, a team that defeated the Monks by an 8-3 score in West Haven last spring.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's has three GNAC regular season games remaining, starting with a home game versus Anna Maria at 6:00 PM on Tuesday. The Monks will host Johnson & Wales University next Friday and close out the campaign at Regis College on Tuesday, April 25th.
