PAXTON, MA – Saint Joseph's (3-5, 1-0 GNAC) rallied to defeat Anna Maria College (4-4, 1-1 GNAC), 13-11, in what was the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener for both clubs on Saturday afternoon.

Leading the Monks was Jonathan Horgan (Hingham, Mass.), who tallied a game-high seven points on five goals and two assists.  Paul Dolewa (Saco, Maine), Andrew Sullivan (Rochester, N.H.) and Jake Ricciardi (Sharon, Mass.) each had two goals on the day.

For Anna Maria, senior attack Mike Saulnier (Wrentham, Mass.) had five goals while senior Brad Peterson (North Kingstown, R.I.) added a hat trick and freshman Joshua Smith (Mendon, Mass.) had four points with two goals.

Smith scored two quick goals and Saulnier added another to give the hosts a 3-0 advantage five minutes into the first period. St. Joe's picked up a pair from Horgan to cut the lead to 3-2, but Saulnier scored again to maintain a 4-2 lead after one.

In the second quarter the teams traded three goals apiece, including two from AMC's Peterson and SJC's Horgan and at the half Anna Maria led 7-5.

It was all Saint Joseph's in the third stanza, when they outscored AMC 4-0 en route to gaining a 9-7 lead that would not be relinquished. Ricciardi scored two of the four goals for the Monks.

Just 1:02 into the fourth period Saulnier scored for the AMCATS to make it a one goal game, but Saint Joseph's answered again going on a 4-1 run to increase the lead to 13-9. Anna Maria netted two late goals by Saulnier and Peterson but it wasn't enough making the final 13-11.

Monks junior keeper Christopher Driscoll (Saco, Maine) made 11 stops in the victory while his counterpart, AMCATS junior Andrew Ellis (Fitchburg, Mass.) tallied 16 saves in a losing effort.

Freshman long-stick midi Colby Main (Jericho, Vt.) corralled a game-high 11 ground balls for Saint Joseph's.

St. Joe's will host Plymouth State at Deering Memorial Stadium on Tuesday night at 7:30 PM while Anna Maria takes on GNAC-rival Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts on Wednesday at 4:00 PM.

THANKS IN PART TO ANNA MARIA SPORTS INFORMATION