STANDISH, Maine – Dean College (4-0, 1-0 GNAC) tipped Saint Joseph's College (0-5, 0-1 GNAC), 10-7, in what was the 2022 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse opener on a rainy Saturday afternoon at the SJC Athletics Complex.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Monks kicked off the scoring when senior Nathan Varle (Saco, Maine) netted his first of three goals, an unassisted tally at the 9:16 mark, to lift his team to a 1-0 edge. Dean sophomore Diego Alvarez-Segee (Saugus, Mass.) tied the game on the ensuing face-off, as sophomore Tyler Benedetto (Jupiter, Fla.) won the draw and streaked up the middle of the field to set up his teammate for the equalizer.

Junior Zavier Balzano (Otisfield, Maine) capped the first-quarter offense at the 6:37 mark when he capitalized off a Varle assist and gave his team a 2-1 edge that held true until midway through the second stanza, when Alvarez-Segee scored twice in a matter of 30 seconds to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the day, 3-2, with 7:47 before the break.

Dean headed into intermission with a 6-2 lead after holding St. Joe's off the board while scoring five goals – including three from Alvarez-Segee – in the second quarter overall.

Varle opened the third period with two tallies in the first four minutes and cut the Monks' deficit to 6-4 in the process. The Bulldogs countered by punching home two of the following three goals and held an 8-5 advantage going into the final frame.

Things seemed to be trending in the Monks' favor early in the fourth quarter, as Xavier Michaud (Wales, Maine) and freshman Calvin Heline (Amesbury, Mass.) hit pay dirt in the opening four minutes to make it a one-goal (8-7) game with 10:56 left. Alvarez-Segee had other ideas however and put the game to bed by scoring the final two goals of the afternoon.

TEAM STATS:

Dean held the lead in shots (44-37), shots on goal (29-22), ground balls (29-24) and face-off wins (19-2) in the triumph.

THE KEEPERS:

SJC junior Brannon Gilbert (Gray, Maine) kept his team in the game by making 19 saves in the setback while Dean netminder Alexander Govoni turned away 15 shots in the victory.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• ­Varle had a career day with three goals, two assists and five ground balls
• Michaud netted a pair of goals
• Freshman Will Levesque (Marlow, N.H.) was credited with a pair of assists
• Senior Nathan Landry (Derry, N.H.) notched three caused turnovers
• Junior Sonny Marquis (Londonderry, N.H.) added three caused turnovers and two ground balls
• Freshman Anthony Samiotes (Hampstead, N.H.) picked up three ground balls and a caused turnover

LEADERS – DEAN:

• Alvarez-Segee almost singlehandedly willed the Bulldogs to victory by scoring six goals and notching an assist
• Freshman Jason Richard (Holden, Mass.) added three goals
• Benedetto won 19 face-offs in 21 attempts and totaled 11 ground balls

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

Today's contest was the first-ever between the Saint Joseph's and Dean College men's lacrosse programs. The Bulldogs joined the GNAC at the start of the 2020-21 academic year.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's will host Southern Maine on Wednesday at 6:00 PM.

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