SAINTS RALLY TO DEFEAT WILDCATS, ADVANCE TO GNAC FINAL

BOSTON, Mass. - The top-seeded Emmanuel College men's lacrosse team fought off an incredible effort by the fourth-seeded Johnson & Wales Wildcats to earn a 10-8 victory in Thursday's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Semifinal matchup. With the win, the Saints advance to the program's third-consecutive GNAC Championship game on Sunday at noon at Clemente Field.

The Wildcats came into Boston with intentions on hitting Emmanuel hard from the start, and did just that, scoring two goals in the opening 1:20 when freshman Ben Farrell (Downington, Pa.) and senior Julian Bandereck (Topsfield, Mass.) found the back of the net.

Senior Michael Donovan (Assonet, Mass.) and fershman Matt Katon (East Falmouth, Mass.) scored for the home team to pull things back to a 2-2 draw, but Bandereck answered 22 seconds later with his second of the game to give JWU a 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Sophomore Eric Russo (West Grove, Pa.) and freshman Erik Lindaas (Milford, Pa.) opened the second quarter with goals at 14:09 and 12:53 to extend the visitors' lead to 5-2. After ten scoreless minutes, EC's all-time leading goal scorer, senior Chris Curtis (Ashland, Mass.) pulled the Saints within two, scoring with 2:19 left. Forty seconds later, senior Justin Kelly (Collegeville, Pa.) capitalized on a man-up opportunity and sent the teams into the break locked in a one-goal game.

The teams erupted for two goals each in a span of 2:30 to begin the third quarter, keeping with the back-and-forth nature of the contest.

Sophomore Charlie Moran (Maitland, Fla.) evened things up with a laser 2:15 into the second half, but the Wildcats threw another punch as Farrell and sophomore Max Stone (Burlington, Conn.) scored back-to-back goals to reopen a 7-5 lead. Only six seconds later, Curtis set up junior Tony Cibelli (Westboro, Mass.) for his first goal of the game, lessening the deficit to one.

The fourth quarter belonged to the two-time defending champions, as Emmanuel goals from Katon, Cibelli, and Moran turned the game on its head. The Saints took a 9-7 advantage with 4:53 remaining in regulation.

Sophomore Sam Sears (Baltimore, Md.) scored for the Wildcats with 3:16 to play, cutting the EC lead to one, but Donovan responded a minute later and the Saints held off a last JWU charge to earn the semifinal win.

Farrell and Bandereck both picked up a pair of goals for the Wildcats, while Stone, Russo, Lindaas, and Sears each had one. Stone also added an assist to his lone goal.

Cibelli led the way for Emmanuel, tallying two goals and two assists. Donovan, Moran, and Katon all picked up a pair of goals, while Curtis scored and assisted once, and senior Michael Rainha (Attleboro, Mass.) earned an assist as well.

In goal, sophomore Austin Rosenberg (Ronkokoma, N.Y.) improved to 9-3 on the year with a nine-save effort. Sophomore JC Guido (Miller Place, N.Y.) saw his season come to an end at with a 9-9 record after making nine saves in the loss.

The Saints will return to action on Sunday afternoon as Lasell College heads to Clemente for the 2016 GNAC Championship game. The title contest is schedule to begin at noon.