MEN'S LACROSSE LOCKS IN #1 SEED WITH 19-5 WIN OVER SAINT JOSEPH'S

STANDISH, Maine – Emmanuel College (8-8, 7-0 GNAC) defeated Saint Joseph's College (5-11, 2-6 GNAC), 19-5, at Westerlea Way Field on Thursday afternoon. The win locks up the #1 seed in next week's Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament, securing the Saints with a first round bye and right to host in the semifinals and finals if they advance. 

THE LEAD

Emmanuel scored three times in the opening seven minutes and held a 5-1 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The Saints extended their lead to double digits when senior midfielder Chris Curtis (Ashland, Mass.) netted an unassisted tally with 1:23 left in the second frame and senior midfielder Michael Donovan (Assonet, Mass.) scored off a Tony Cibelli (Westboro, Mass.) feed just before the break to lift Emmanuel – which featured 13 different goal scorers in the victory - to a 13-2 cushion heading into intermission.

For the Monks, today's contest brings an end to the team's 2016 campaign and concludes the collegiate careers of the program's three seniors: Jared Butler (Fremont, N.H.), Eddie Donnell, Jr. (Gardiner, Maine), and Jake O'Brien (Andover, Mass.). For the Saints, the victory is the team's 26th consecutive GNAC regular season victory, as Emmanuel – which concludes the regular season Saturday at home versus Albertus Magnus College (3:00 PM) - has not dropped a conference contest since falling to Daniel Webster College on April 20th, 2013. The win also secures the #1 seed for next week's GNAC Tournament.

SJC HIGHLIGHTS

•       O'Brien scored three goals with four ground balls in his final collegiate contest and completes his career having scored 61 goals with 51 assists for 112 total points – the fourth highest total in team history

•       Freshman Michael Finn (Quincy, Mass.) scored a goal with two ground balls

•       Sophomore Joe O'Reilly (Suffern, N.Y.) added a goal and a pair of ground balls

•       Sophomore Brendan Barrett (East Sandwich, Mass.) dealt a pair of assists

•       Sophomore Austin Havu (Buxton, Maine) won six face-off attempts and collected three ground balls

EMMANUEL HIGHLIGHTS

•       Cibelli finished the contest with three goals and three assists

•       Donovan registered a hat trick with three ground balls

•       Freshman Max Bolduc (Lewiston, Maine) tallied two goals and an assist

•       Curtis scored twice and scooped up two ground balls

•       Sophomore Michael Sousa (Cranston, R.I.) won 18 of 23 face-off attempts and collected a game-high 10 ground balls

•       Junior Donnie Litzelman (Stratham, N.H.) chipped in with a goal and an assist

•       Sophomore Samuel Carroll (Westbrook, Maine) contributed a pair of assists

THE KEEPERS

•       Sophomore Wyatt Porter (Pittsfield, Mass.) earned the start and made nine saves with four ground balls in the setback

•       The Saints employed three goalkeepers in the victory, as sophomore Austin Rosenberg (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) started and made six stops over 30 minutes while freshman Cole Scadden (San Diego, Calif.) and sophomore Andrew Blood (Wrentham, Mass.) combined to make three saves in the third and fourth quarters, respectively

TEAM STATS

Emmanuel held the lead in shots (48-34), ground balls (38-24), face-offs (21-7), and caused turnovers (5-3) in the victory. The Saints were 14-15 in clears and went 1-2 in extra-man up opportunities while the Monks cleared successfully on 15 of 19 attempts and failed to score in five man-up situations.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 2-4 in the history of the series with Emmanuel College, a team that defeated the Monks by a 12-4 margin in Boston last spring.

*Release courtesy of SJC Sports Information