FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NO. 2 NORWICH 17, NO. 3 ANNA MARIA 3
NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The second-seeded Norwich University men's lacrosse team took the first step towards reclaiming the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) title on Friday evening with a convincing 17-3 victory over seventh-seeded Anna Maria College in the quarterfinal round of the tournament.
The game started off slow with both teams failing to convert on their early chances. Anna Maria (1-8, 1-6 GNAC) got on the board first about five minutes in as junior Eric Glover took a pass from junior Nick Massaro and beat the Cadets' goalie five-hole.
Norwich (8-3, 5-2 GNAC) responded just over a minute later as senior Payden Masaracchia (Enola, Pa.) tallied his 34th goal of the year putting home a pass from junior Parker Campbell (Rockaway, N.J.). Campbell then notched a goal of his own ripping his 17th marker of the year to give the hosts a 2-1 lead.
Glover gave the AMCATS some momentum heading into the second quarter scoring his 16th goal of the season with just 15 clicks left on the clock to knot the game at 2-2.
After a quiet start to the second frame, Massaro restored the AMCATS lead with his 11th goal of the season at 11:04 to push the visitors ahead 3-2.
Norwich would eventually call a timeout at the 7:25 mark of the second quarter to try to regroup and find some offensive consistency after being stymied by the AMCATS' defense and stellar netminding by senior Griffin Moore.
After the stoppage, the Cadets began finding answers on the offensive end converting on three of their offensive opportunities before the end of the half. Freshman Jack Haley (Falkville, Ala.) found the back of the net firing while running across the face of the crease from 12 feet out. Masaracchia and Campbell then scored back-to-back goals in the span of 34 seconds to provide the hosts with a 5-3 lead heading into the second half.
Norwich finally solved the AMCATS' defense and goalie in the second half firing off 12-consecutive goals to leave no doubt and earn its spot in the GNAC semifinals scheduled for next Wednesday. The Cadets will host the winner of the #3 Rivier-#6 Emmanuel quarterfinal game.
Campbell (4G, 2A) and Masaracchia (2G, 4A) paced the Cadets' offensive each registering six points. Seniors Russell Gilligan (Fountain Hills, Ariz.) and Clyde Tamburro (Elizabethtown, Pa.) each netted a hat trick. Freshman Thomas Muraski(Keller, Texas) put on a clinic at the face-off X winning a season-best 20-of-24 faceoffs and allowing the Cadets to string together possessions as he grabbed a career-best 16 groundballs.
Glover led the AMCATS with a pair of goals while Massaro collected a goal and an assist.
Senior Nick Kandra (Crofton, Md.) allowed a career-low three goals making 14 saves over 60 minutes in net for the Cadets while Moore stopped an impressive 17 shots on net in the loss for Anna Maria.
Courtesy of Norwich Athletics Communications
No. 4 JWU 18, NO. 5 USJ 9
PROVIDENCE - The fourth seeded Johnson & Wales men's lacrosse team earned an 18-9 win over fifth-seed Saint Joseph on Saturday afternoon. Three players earned seven points each in the most lopsided postseason win in program history.
Records:
JWU: 7-2
USJ: 5-7
Statistics:
Chris Calisto: 7 G
Andrew Vasile: 3 G, 4 A
Tyler Drago: 3 G, 4 A
Of Note:
The Wildcats closed out the regular season with back-to-back wins over the Blue Jays. In both matchups, JWU had to come from behind on the way to victory including an early 6-0 deficit in the first matchup between these two squads. On Saturday, JWU jumped out to a 5-1 advantage in the opening quarter and never looked back. Chris Calisto picked up his third and fourth goals of the game in the second quarter, tying his career game high. JWU took a 10-3 lead into half.
Andrew Vasile grabbed the hat trick to open up the second half while the Wildcats clawed out to a 15-3 advantage capped off by Calisto's career high fifth and sixth goals of the contest. Calisto added his seventh and final goal in the first five minutes of the fourth to give JWU a 17-4 lead. USJ was able to connect on five of the next six goals in the game before the final horn sounded and the Wildcats earned the 18-9 victory.
Up Next:
JWU will travel to Lasell on Wednesday, May 5 for a 4 p.m. start in the GNAC semifinals. Lasell had a first round bye as the number one overall seed in the tournament.
Courtesy of JWU Athletics Communications
NO. 3 RIVIER 11, NO. 6 EMMANUEL 8
Nashua, N.H. - The Rivier University Men's Lacrosse team faced Emmanuel College yesterday afternoon for the third time this season, all of which have resulted in the favor of the Raiders. All three wins were sweet, however this one was a bit sweeter as it was a GNAC quarter final win, at home.
While the end result was ideal for the Raiders, it certainly didn't come without a fight. The first leg ended 4-1 in favor of the visiting Saints. With the lonegoal credited to freshman Connor Eck (Franklin, Mass.) after freshman Coby Mercier (Boscawen, N.H.) forced an Emmanuel turnover.
In the second quarter the Raiders retaliated with four goals of their own. Two of which were tallied by Mercier and Jacob Enright (Dracut, Mass.) unassisted the other two were credited to Babb assisted by McSparren (Warwick, R.I.). Freshman goalie Sawyer Gagnon (Gorham, ME) recorded three saves fending off the Saints just enough to close the gap to a one goal deficit by the end of the quarter, 6-5.
The Raiders responded in the third quarter with some stiff defense as Gagnon recorded four saves and his cast scooped up 6-8 ground balls in the quarter. Michael Ference (Salem, N.H.) was able to strike three minutes into the quarter unassisted. However, the Saints neutralized the Raiders attack tallying two more goals.
The fourth quarter was paced by the Raiders as they scored five unanswered goals. Two were tallied by McSparren, one of which was off a dish from Mercier in a man-up situation. Freshman middie Alan Cozzilino (Hamden, CT) also scored in a man-up opportunity the assist was credited to Ference. Mercier also walked away with an un assisted goal.
The Raiders out-performed the visitors in a few categories. Gagnon stood on his head again collecting a total of 14 saves to fend off the feisty Saints. The team went 14-23 in faceoffs, 13-13 in clear attempts, out-shot the competition 38-30 and went 2-5 in their man-up opportunities.
The Raiders will now move onto the next challenge. A Great Northeast Athletic Conference Semi-final matchup against the Cadets of Norwich University. The event will be hosted by Cadets and faceoff is slated for 7PM on Wednesday night. Streaming will be available at https://www.norwichathletics.com/livestream
Courtesy of Rivier Athletics Communications.