Men's Lacrosse Clinches Postseason Berth With Senior Day Win

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's lacrosse team controlled its own destiny on Senior Night Saturday, outlasting the Monks of Saint Joseph's College of Maine (SJC), 8-3, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) home match under the lights at the USJ Lacrosse Field. With the win, the Blue Jays clinched a berth to the GNAC postseason tournament for the second straight season, and have won back-to-back games, allowing just nine goals over the last two matches. It ties the fewest goals allowed by the Blue Jays in any two-game span this season. USJ also allowed nine against Castleton and Eastern Nazarene in back-to-back games earlier in the year. The three goals allowed on Saturday is also tied for the fewest allowed in a GNAC match in program history (has happened three times).

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Saint Joseph's College 3, University of Saint Joseph 8
Records: SJC 4-12 (2-7 GNAC), USJ 7-8 (4-5 GNAC)
Location: USJ Lacrosse Field | West Hartford, Conn.
Notes: Senior Night

Prior to Saturday's match, the USJ Department of Athletics, including Director of Athletics Amanda Devitt, recognized the men's lacrosse senior class of 2022. Seniors Matt Guerin (East Longmeadow, Mass.), Benjamin Lenzner (Westerly, R.I.), and graduate senior Joseph Boland (Rhinebeck, N.Y.) were all honored in a pregame ceremony.

The Blue Jays were relentless Saturday night setting the tone early with their physical, yet agile play. Six Blue Jays scored in total on the night, including sophomore attackman Ryan Paltauf (Southbury, Conn.), who had a game-high six points with a pair of goals and four assists. Junior attackman Anthony Lupo (Wallingford, Conn.) added two goals for hosts, including the game's opening strike on a man-up opportunity, while junior middie Noah Mocksfield (Colchester, Conn.) chipped in with a goal and an assist for two points on the night. Guerin also found the back of the cage in his final home match of his career.

Saint Joseph came out on fire scoring six of the first seven goals in the game with all six being assisted on. USJ's defense, which has been the story as of late, forced the Monks' offense into mistakes all night long and was backed by the play of junior goalkeeper and captain Trey McCann (Simsbury, Conn.). McCann once again was stout between the pipes and finished with a game-high dozen denials. SJC could only muster three scores in total, and was shutout in the second half.

The defense turned into offense for USJ as frustration kicked in for SJC, which committed several second-half turnovers and penalties, leading to continuous man-up opportunities for the hosts. USJ controlled the pace of play all game long and scored twice more in the second half with goals from Paltauf and Lupo to record the game's final score of 8-3.

PLAYER QUOTE [Matt Guerin]
"We ran it up early and tried to get our tempo going offensively. Once we got a good stance in the game, we got more technical. It's been all about our technical play lately. Our final game [at Johnson & Wales] means everything, maybe even more than playoffs. Last year was tough, and [JWU] beat us up pretty bad. We just have to flip the script and take it to them this time. They are a strong team, and we are a strong team too. We will be ready."

COACH QUOTE [Andrew Fink]
"I said to the guys, 'it's not always how you start, it's how you finish.' This is our first true traditional full season and its a learning process for our guys to play this many games and finish a season. We stumbled a few times, but I am so proud of the way we are finishing. Two huge wins over two great programs. Saint Joseph's Maine has been one of the top programs in our conference for the last four years. For us to play that type of defense and play smart lacrosse, it was something I didn't know we could do a few weeks ago, but here we are coming together and ending strong."

GOALIE BREAKDOWN

SJC – Junior goalkeeper Brannon Gilbert (Gray, Maine) took the loss (3-9), allowing seven goals on 14 shots on goal faced in 45 minutes between the pipes. Freshman stopper Ryan Boutiette (Burrillville, R.I.) allowed one goal in 15 minutes of action in the fourth period.

USJ – McCann was impressive once again and improved to 6-7 on the season between the pipes. He finished with a game-high 12 saves, allowing just three goals in a full 60 minutes in the cage.

BATTLE AT THE 'X'

Faceoffs were practically split down the middle, as SJC held a 7-6 advantage overall. Sophomore faceoff specialist Samuel Barbetti (Guilford, Conn.) was the high-man for Saint Joseph with five successful faceoff wins in 11 attempts.

UP NEXT
The Blue Jays head to the road for their final match of the regular season, a GNAC contest against the Wildcats of Johnson & Wales University (JWU), in a rematch of the 2021 GNAC Quarterfinals. That match will be held on Wednesday, April 27 at 7:00 p.m. in Providence, R.I. It will mark the fourth match between the two teams in the last two seasons. USJ is 0-3 in the previous three meetings, including 0-1 in the postseason.

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