No. 4 North Seed Saints Travel to No. 1 South Seed USJ for Saturday GNAC Quarterfinal Tilt

BOSTON – Emmanuel men's lacrosse returns to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Playoffs, seeking their second-straight conference championship after winning the title in 2023. The Saints clinched the No. 4 North seed and will start their playoff run with a trip to the No. 1 South seeded University of Saint Joseph Blue Jays on Saturday for the GNAC Quarterfinal Round.

The Saints finished the season at 5-11 (5-5 GNAC) and are winners in four of their last six outings. Emmanuel was recently on a four-game winning streak before a one-goal loss to Rivier broke the string of victories.

Entering Saturday's GNAC Quarterfinal, first-year Cooper Mehlhorn (South Portland, Maine) leads the team with 52 points this season. His 29 goals are second-most on the Saints while his 23 assists leads the team.

Junior Ryan Etzo (Bedford, N.H.) and sophomore Cole Cloney (Medfield, Mass.) are tied for second on the Saints with 38 points each. Cloney's 32 goals lead the program this season. Senior Thomas Quigley (Marblehead, Mass.) and junior Sanzio DiGesualdo (Niskayuna, N.Y.) have 35 and 34 points, respectively. Included in Quigley's 35-point season is a team-high six man-up goals.

Defensively, junior Evan Decker (Milwaukee, Wis.) leads the team with 26 caused turnovers to go along with 30 ground balls. Fellow junior Jack Antico (Elkridge, Md.) has 18 caused turnovers and 34 ground balls, most among Saints defenders. Senior Eric Anderson (Sparta, N.J.) man's the Saints goal and holds a 5-11 record with an 11.92 GAA and 52.0 save percentage.

For the Blue Jays, their offense is led by team-point leader and top assist complier, senior Ryan Paltauf (Southbury, Conn.) whose 67 points is most on USJ while his 48 assists lead all GNAC players.

Sophomore Nick Pestrichello (Newington, Conn.) and junior Christian Decker (Bristol, Conn.) are just shy of 50 points this season with 47 and 45 points, respectively. For Decker, his 38 goals are most on the Blue Jays.

On defense, senior Sam Barbetti (Guilford, Conn.) leads the team with 23 caused turnovers and sits eighth in the GNAC in ground balls with 85. Close behind in the CT's is junior defender Jay Kajander (Reading, Mass.) and his 22 caused turnovers. In the USJ goal, senior Trey McCann (Simsbury, Conn.) is 12-3 this season with an 8.44 GAA and 52.2 save percentage. McCann's GAA leads all goalies in the conference.

In the few all-time meetings between the Saints and Blue Jays, Emmanuel holds a 3-1 record, including two wins over USJ last season. Among those victories in 2023, the Saints beat the Blue Jays in the GNAC Championship Game, 16-8, to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

The winner of Saturday's game moves to the GNAC Semifinals on Wednesday, May 1, and faces the winner of the No. 2 North seed Norwich Cadets and the No. 3 South seed Lasell Lasers.