Men's Lacrosse Poised for GNAC Semifinal Clash vs. No. 5 Dean

BOSTON, Mass. – Following a 16-5 victory over No. 8 Norwich in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Quarterfinals, No. 1 men's lacrosse is set to host No. 5 Dean College on Tuesday, May 2 at 7:30 PM at Roberto Clemente Field in the 2023 GNAC Men's Lacrosse Tournament Semifinals.

SEASON AT A GLANCE:

Emmanuel:

• The Saints entered the GNAC tournament ranked first in the GNAC with a 6.01 goals against average in conference play.
• Emmanuel ranks second in the conference in caused turnovers with 250 on the year.
• Offensively, the Saints have scored 211 goals to rank third in the GNAC.
• EC has only netted 21 man-up goals this year, ranking seventh of 11 teams in the league.

Dean:

• Dean currently leads the GNAC in goals-allowed, having only surrendered 115 goals through 15 games played for a league-low 7.81 goals against average, just ahead of Emmanuel's 7.90 mark.
• The Bulldogs rank in the middle of the GNAC pack in goals scored with 199 tallies to rank fifth.
• The squad has taken good care of the ball throughout the year, committing just 314 turnovers which ranks second among GNAC programs
• The Bulldogs have excelled in their defensive clears this season, ranking second in the GNAC with an 83.2% success rate, only behind Saint Joseph's College (ME) who finished the year over 86%.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Emmanuel:

• Senior attack Ryan Castle (Boxford, Mass.) tops the EC offense with 66 points on 45 goals and 21 assists. He recently set the single-game points record with 10 in the regular-season finale vs. NEC and just set EC's single-season points record. He is four goals shy of also setting the EC single-season goals mark which currently stands at 48.
• Junior attack Thomas Quigley (Marblehead, Mass.) became the Saints all-time leader in assists in the QF win over Norwich and now has 67 career helpers. He's enjoying a strong campaign with 56 points on 30 goals and 26 assists and is two assists shy of tying his own single-season record for assists at 28.
• Senior goalie Randy Castle (Boxford, Mass.) is enjoying one of the best statistical seasons in net in the program's history. He currently boasts a 64.9 save percentage to lead the GNAC and rank fourth in the nation and has made 211 saves to top  the GNAC and is a new EC single-season saves record.

Dean:

• Junior attack Diego Alvarez-Segee (Saugus, Mass.) leads the GNAC in goals (66) and points (87) and currently ranks third in the nation among NCAA Division III players averaging 4.40 goals per game.
• Junior attack Alec Speirs (Old Lyme, Conn.) is one of only five players in the GNAC that recorded 30 or more goals and assists this season, ranking fifth overall in assists (34) and ninth in points (64).
• Junior middie Tyler Benedetto (Jupiter, Fla.) was one of only four GNAC players to record over 100 groundballs this season (114) and ranks second in the league among faceoff specialists with at least 200 faceoffs, winning 59.2% of the restarts (196-331).

COACHES' CORNER:

Trevor Craven - Emmanuel College
In his 11^th overall season at Emmanuel and sixth as Head Coach, Craven has been an integral part of the programs growth. He came on board as an assistant coach under the inaugural coach Brendan McWilliams and took over the helm in 2017 after leaving for one season to serve as the Head Coach at Becker. Craven is enjoying his best year as a Head Coach with a 13-5 record this season including a 9-1 mark in the GNAC. He is 23-22 all-time in GNAC action with Emmanuel.

Matt Schairer – Dean College
In his seventh season with Dean, Schairer has never had a losing campaign with the Bulldogs, posting an overall record of 52-29 (.642). He guided the squad to three seasons with 10 victories (2018, 2022, 2023) and since joining the GNAC has coached them to a 14-11 record in conference play during the regular-season.

THE LAST TIME WE MET:
Earlier this season, Emmanuel played a strong first half in a 10-6 home victory on March 31, building a 6-1 lead by halftime behind three Ry. Castle goals and a pair of markers by fellow senior Colin Dickinson (Barre, Vt.).

The Saints held Alvarez-Segee to just two goals, both coming in the fourth quarter, and limited the Bulldog offense to the six goals for their second-fewest total on the year.

Ra. Castle made 16 saves in net to earn the win while senior James Rollins (Old Lyme, Conn.) made 15 saves for Dean.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
The Saints and Bulldogs have enjoyed a competitive career series since Dean joined the GNAC before the start of the 2021 campaign.

Over four career meetings, the series is even at 2-2 overall with Emmanuel winning the first meeting in 2021, 11-10, and the most-recent match up in 2023, 10-6. In between, Dean picked up an 8-7 win in 2021 and a 13-4 victory last season to put the all-time goals differential at 37-32 in favor of Dean.

The teams have never met in the GNAC postseason.

POSTSEASON HISTORY:
Emmanuel is no stranger to the GNAC tournament making its 11th consecutive appearance in the field since becoming a varsity sport in 2012. The Saints own an all-time GNAC tourney record of 8-7 and have won three GNAC Championships coming in consecutive years in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Dean is 2-for-2 in qualifying for the GNAC tournament since joining the league. Last year in their GNAC tourney debut, the Bulldogs fell in overtime to Johnson & Wales, 11-10, at home in the 4/5 match-up. The Bulldogs were able to flip the script this season, travelling up the Standish, Maine as the No. 5 seed and pulling off the road win over. No. 4 SJM this past Saturday in a 15-9 final to give them an overall record of 1-1 in GNAC postseason play.

COVERAGE
Tuesday's GNAC Semifinal Game will be streamed live on the web with livestats available. To tune into the live action, click on one of the links below:

LIVE VIDEO
LIVE STATS

2023 GNAC MEN'S LACROSSE TOURNEY SCHEDULE
Friday, April 28 – QUARTERFINALS
GAME 1: #5 Dean at #4 Saint Joseph's (Maine) – 7:30 PM (15-9, DEAN)

Saturday, April 29 – QUARTERFINALS
GAME 2: #6 Saint Joseph (Conn.) at #3 Rivier – 1:00 PM (8-6, USJ)
GAME 3: #7 Johnson & Wales at #2 Lasell – 1:00 PM (13-5, LAS)
GAME 4: #8 Norwich at #1 Emmanuel – 1:00 PM (16-5, EMM)

Tuesday, May 2 - SEMIFINALS
GAME 5: #5 Dean vs. #1 Emmanuel – 7:30 PM
GAME 6: #6 Saint Joseph (Conn.) vs. #2 Lasell – 6:00 PM

Saturday, May 6 - CHAMPIONSHIP
GAME 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner at highest remaining seed – TBD