Chant Sends Men’s Lacrosse to GNAC Finals With 10-9 OT Game-Winner vs. Dean

BOSTON, Mass. - Senior Drew Chant (Warwick, R.I.) scored 46 seconds into overtime to send the Emmanuel College men’s lacrosse program back to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) championship for the first time since 2016 following their 10-9 overtime victory over No. 5 Dean College in Tuesday evenings GNAC Semifinal contest at Roberto Clemente Field.

Chant Sends Men’s Lacrosse to GNAC Finals With 10-9 OT Game-Winner vs. Dean
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May 2, 2023

THE BASICS 

Score: 
Emmanuel 10 – Dean 9 (OT)

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (14-5, 9-1 GNAC)
Dean College Bulldogs (10-6, 5-5 GNAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Roberto Clemente Field

Date: Tuesday, May 2, 2023

THE LEAD – Senior Drew Chant (Warwick, R.I.) scored 46 seconds into overtime to send the Emmanuel College men's lacrosse program back to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) championship for the first time since 2016 following their 10-9 overtime victory over No. 5 Dean College in Tuesday evenings GNAC Semifinal contest at Roberto Clemente Field.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • After 60 minutes of back-and-forth action that ended in a 9-9 deadlock, Emmanuel first year Ty Carroll (Haverhill, Mass.) won the opening faceoff to begin overtime and give the hosts possession.
  • EC Head Coach Trevor Craven used his final timeout of the action once the ball was in the attacking zone to organize an offensive set and out of the huddle, Chant wheeled around to his strong side and deposited his only goal of the night to send Emmanuel home 10-9 winners in an instant classic.
  • The Saints broke a 4-4 tie midway through the second quarter on a goal by senior Ryan Castle (Boxford, Mass.) to put the hosts on top, 5-4, with 8:30 left in the half.
  • EC first year Cole Cloney (Medfield, Mass.) bumped the lead to 6-4 with less than five to play in the quarter to give EC a two-goal cushion heading into the break.
  • Just before the end of the half, Dean was whistled for a hold which proved to be a costly flag as Emmanuel held onto possession and converted the man-up opportunity 13 seconds into the third quarter. Castle finished off a Thomas Quigley (Marblehead, Mass.) feed to give the Saints a little bit of breathing room at 7-4.
  • Over the final 11 minutes of the third, the sides traded goals to a 9-7 score. Senior Greg Centeio (Fairhaven, Mass.), sophomore Own Brine (Lebanon, N.H.) and sophomore Ryan Clunie (North Andover, Mass.) scored during the stretch for Dean while junior Robert Favuzza (Saugus, Mass.) and Cloney accounted for the other two EC goals in the frame.
  • Dean junior Alec Speirs (Old Lyme, Conn.) found the back of the net 3:10 into the fourth quarter to pull Dean to within a goal at 9-8 before junior Diego Alvarez-Segee (Saugus, Mass.) tied the game at 9-all with 6:26 to play.
  • Both EC senior goalie Randy Castle (Boxford, Mass.) and DC senior goalie James Rollins (Old Lyme, Conn.) made key stops over the final two minutes of regulation to keep the score tied and set the stage for the overtime fireworks for Chant and the Saints.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

  • Ry. Castle and Cloney each finished with a game-high three goals in the win, Castle adding an assist to move to 70 points on the year, the new EC single-season record.
  • Cloney also made some history with his third goal, becoming the single-season record holder with 49 goals on the year, one more than the previous leader Chris Curtis '16 who accomplished the feat during the 2016 GNAC Championship season.
  • Quigley finished with three points on a goal and two assists to move to 28 helpers on the year, tying his own single-season record in assists from the 2022 campaign.
  • Ra. Castle was huge in net for his 14th win of the year making 17 saves to bring his single-season record total up to 228 this year.
  • The Emmanuel defense limited Alvarez-Segee, the GNAC's leader in points, to just one goal on the night, ending a 10-game stretch of multi-goal games.
  • Rollins played well in defeat making 14 saves, one shy of his season-high.
  • Emmanuel moves to 3-2 all-time vs. Dean and has won the last two meetings.
  • The Saints are now 1-1 on the year in overtime games.

UP NEXT

  • The Saints move on to face the University of Saint Joseph (CT) in the 2023 GNAC Championship game this Saturday, May 6 at Roberto Clemente Field.

    No. 6 USJ pulled off its second upset of the tourney, knocking off No. 2 Lasell University in overtime, 10-9, to advance to the program's first GNAC Championship in just its fourth year of existence.