PHOTO COURTESY OF HEIDI VARLE

STANDISH, Maine – Emerson College (3-0) defeated Saint Joseph's College (0-2), 15-7, in a non-conference men's lacrosse contest at the SJC Athletics Complex on Sunday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Emerson scored just 19 seconds into the contest and held a 2-0 lead before senior midfielder Wyatt LeBlanc (Arundel, Maine) netted a man-up marker off a Xavier Michaud (Wales, Maine) feed with 4:26 left in the first quarter. The Lions rattled off five unanswered goals over the next three minutes and held a 7-2 lead after LeBlanc scored with 28 seconds before the start of the second stanza.

Trailing 10-2 with 5:03 before the break, junior Eli Arsenault (Saco, Maine) won a faceoff, picked up the ground ball, and sprinted towards the net before he unleashed a strike to the back of the cage to make it a 10-3 game.

Freshman Will Levesque (Marlow, N.H.) scored the only goal in the third quarter with a shot off a Michaud pass as the Monks trailed, 11-4, with 10:34 left in the frame.

The Monks cut their deficit down to 12-6 after junior Max Lacy (Salisbury, N.H.) and Michaud scored a goal apiece in a matter of two minutes midway through the fourth quarter. Emerson responded with three-consecutive goals to put the game out of reach. Junior midfielder Zavier Balzano (Otisfield, Maine) capped the game scoring with an unassisted tally with 56 seconds on the clock.

TEAM STATS:

Emerson held the lead in shots on goal (28-25) and faceoff wins (17-8) while Saint Joseph's posted a 41-39 edge in ground balls. Both teams recorded 43 shots.

THE KEEPERS:

SJC freshman Ryan Boutiette (Burrillville, R.I.) turned away seven shots in 24:53 of play while junior Brannon Gilbert (Gray, Maine) posted six saves in 35:07 between the pipes.

For Emerson, senior starter Malcom McGrath (Ridgefield, Conn.) allowed six goals and made 16 saves in 52:54 in goal while sophomore Connor Nydegger (Raynham, Mass.) notched a pair of stops in 7:06 of relief.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• LeBlanc scored two goals
• Michaud tallied a goal and two assists
• Arsenault tallied a goal and four ground balls and was 5-for-11 on faceoff attempts

LEADERS – EMERSON:

• Senior Hunter Gervais (Johnston, R.I.) potted four goals with seven ground balls
• Sophomore Birk Swan (Palos Verdes, Calif.) scored two goals and dealt six assists
• Senior Skyler Celotto (Fairfield, Conn.) added two goals and two assists
• Freshman Tyler King (San Mateo, Calif.) and junior James Toomy (Londonderry, N.H.) combined to win 17-of-25 faceoff attempts

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the result, Saint Joseph's falls to 5-2 in the history of the series with Emerson College.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's is back in action with a pair of games in Davenport, Florida during the College's spring break. The Monks will face Moravian at 12:00 PM on Sunday, March 6th and Wentworth Institute at 4:00 PM on Wednesday, March 9th.

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