NASHUA, N.H. – Saint Joseph's College (7-2, 2-0 GNAC) defeated Rivier University (5-1, 0-1 GNAC), 13-7, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse matchup on Wednesday evening. The victory extends the Monks' winning streak to six games, the longest in program history.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Monks opened the contest with three unanswered goals and held a 6-2 lead after sophomore Shane Puleo (Nashua, N.H.) scored off a Daniel Cunningham (West Islip, N.Y.) feed with 4:36 left in the first quarter.

The Raiders cut their deficit down to 6-3 with an early strike in the second stanza, but Saint Joseph's rattled off five-consecutive goals leading up to intermission and built an 11-3 cushion with the help of a man-up goal from Michael Finn (Quincy, Mass.) 26 seconds before the break.

A hard-fought second half ensued, as the high-scoring pace slowed to a crawl in the final two frames, which featured six goals combined by the conference counterparts. The Monks' defense withstood a late push – and a pair of man-down situations - by the Raiders to improve to 2-0 in GNAC play.

FOR THE RECORD:

Finn tied the program's career points record with four points in tonight's win. The four-year starter has tallied 178 points (144 goals, 34 assists) in 59 career games and ties former St. Joe's standout – and current assistant coach – Jonathan Horgan '12, who totaled 111 tallies and 67 assists in 50 career tilts.

Also, Saint Joseph's junior face-off midi Shane Fors (Kalamazoo, Mich.) broke the Monks' single-game records for ground balls (18) and face-off wins (22) in tonight's triumph. The previous marks of 15 and 20, respectively, were originally held by Elliott LaMarre '11.

THE KEEPERS:

SJC sophomore Logan Skinner (Irving, Texas) made six saves on the evening while his counterpart, Rivier netminder Matt Cloutman, turned away 20 shots in the setback.

TEAM STATS:

The Monks held considerable advantages in shots (50-26), shots on goal (33-13), ground balls (30-17) and caused turnovers (13-11) in the victory.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Senior Daniel Cunningham (West Islip, N.Y.) netted three goals with three assists
• Finn scored three goals and was credited with an assist
• Sophomore Zack Hamilton (Pepperell, Mass.) added two goals and an assist with three ground balls
• Sophomore Shane Puleo (Nashua, N.H.) chipped in with a goal and four assists
• Senior Tyler Retalic (Framingham, Mass.) netted a goal with an assist and a pair of ground balls
• Sophomore Tyler Brewster (Merrimack, N.H.) scored twice on 10 shots

LEADERS – RIVIER:

• Dylan McSparren led the Raiders with four goals on six shots
• Eric Guinasso added a goal and an assist with five ground balls

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the win Saint Joseph's improves to 8-3 all-time versus Rivier University and has now defeated the Raiders in three-consecutive meetings, including an 11-10 overtime GNAC Quarterfinal triumph last spring.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's resumes conference play Saturday with a game at Regis College. Opening face-off is set for 1:00 PM.

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