SAINTS PULL OFF 12-6 WIN OVER BECKER ON SENIOR DAY

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College Men's Lacrosse Team remains undefeated in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play, after downing Becker College, 12-6, on Saturday afternoon at Roberto Clemente Field.  This was the 10th-consecutive victory for the streaking Saints, who improved to 10-3 on the season and 8-0 in league play.  The loss dropped Becker to 10-4 overall and 6-3 against GNAC opponents.

Prior to the start of the game, Emmanuel honored the lone senior on its squad, Brian O'Regan (Milton, Mass.).  O'Regan has captained the Saints for the past four years, including his freshman season on Emmanuel's club lacrosse team.  He holds the Emmanuel program-record for games played and ranks among the all-time leaders in points, goals, assists and groundballs.  O'Regan was escorted to midfield by his parents and siblings and had a huge crowd cheering on the Saints in their 10th win of the season.

Following the ceremony, Becker quickly quieted the crowd, opening with a goal just 59 seconds into the action.  Shane Balestracci (Pawcatuck, Conn.) found Blake Boutiette (Burriville, R.I.) to give the Hawks a 1-0 edge.

Emmanuel answered with an unassisted score from Jake Jaskolski (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) at 12:34 and Chris Curtis (Ashland, Mass.) followed with his 19th goal of the season to give the Saints a 2-1 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

The Saints never relinquished their lead, going up by as many as five goals at halftime.  Emmanuel put together a spree of four unanswered goals in the second quarter, which included Jaskolski's and Curtis' second goals of the game, as well as tallies from Michael Rogers (New Haven, Conn.) and Kaile MacLean-Daley (Moretown, Vt.).  The Saints led, 6-1, at the break and owned a 26-12 shooting advantage over the Hawks.

The third quarter saw Becker battle back with four goals to Emmanuel's three, including Boutiette's second of the day.  Emmanuel freshman Tony Cibelli (Westboro, Mass.) dished out his second assist, finding Ryan Sabuda (Indianapolis, Ind.) free to put EC up, 7-2, with 11:54 left in the third.  Myles White (Norwalk, Conn.) and Gerard Cheshire, Conn.) cut the Becker deficit to 7-4, before Cibelli and Christopher Bell (Campbell, Hall, N.Y.) traded goals at opposite ends to bring the spread to 8-5.  MacLean-Daley capped the third quarter scoring with a helper from O'Regan and Emmanuel led, 9-5, after three.

Becker got just one in the fourth, opening with an unassisted goal from White 2:10 into the quarter.  The hosts then tacked on three more, with Justin Kelly (Collegeville, Pa.), scoring off Cibelli's third assist of the day.   Donnie Litzelman (Exeter, N.H.) found MacLean-Daley for his 24th goal of the season and Rogers finished things off for the Saints, finding the back of the net with 1:13 left and giving the Saints the 12-6 win.

MacLean-Daley led all scorers with a hat trick on the day.  Jaskolski, Rogers and Curtis added two goals apiece, while Cibelli finished with 4 points, off of one goal and three assists.  Rogers and Jake Pickett (Stratham, N.H.) led EC with 6 groundballs each and Picket won 14 of his 22 face-offs for the Saints.

Becker was led by two goals each from White and Boutiette.  Bryan Parsons led the Hawks with five groundballs on the day.

Sophomore goalie and this week's ECAC Goalie of the Week Austin Lauzier (Bedford, N.H.) earned his 10^th win of the season, making six saves in net for the Saints.

Rookie goalie Jeffrey Candee (Madison, Conn.) took the loss for the Hawks, dropping to 10-4 on the season, but made 9 saves in the effort.

Emmanuel returns to action this Wednesday (4/16), when the Saints travel to Saint Joseph's College (Me.) for a 7:30 PM start with the Monks.  This game will be played under the lights at Deering Memorial Stadium in Portland, Me.  Becker also plays on Wednesday, when the Hawks host Mount Ida College in a 4:00 PM start.