WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Saint Joseph's College (6-0, 2-0 GNAC) defeated University of Saint Joseph (2-5, 0-3 GNAC), 20-10, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's lacrosse contest on Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Saint Joseph's opened the game with three unanswered goals, including a pair from sophomore Cailyn Wesley (Peabody, Mass.), and held a 6-1 cushion going into the second stanza.

Both teams scored four goals in the second quarter, as grad student Lydia Dexter (Oakland, Maine) netted a pair of man-up markers during the frame to help the Monks take a 10-5 advantage into intermission.

After some halftime adjustments, SJC essentially put the game out of reach by outscoring USJ by a 7-2 margin in the penultimate period. The Monks opened the frame with four-straight tallies, as Wesley, Megan Mourmouras (Biddeford, Maine), Bridget Collins, and Dexter scored a goal apiece in the first four minutes to make it a 14-5 game.

Early in the fourth quarter, St. Joe's opened up a 12-goal lead (19-7) with markers from Wesley and Mackenzie Siebert before the Blue Jays made one final push with three straight goals – including a pair from junior Makenzie Dinger (Hingham, Mass.) – but the game was well in hand by that point and Wesley capped the game scoring with a man-up marker off a Dexter feed with 91 seconds left.

TEAM STATS:

Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (44-27), shots on goal (32-22), ground balls (41-20), and draw controls (21-12) in the conference victory.

THE KEEPERS:

All three SJC netminders logged time in the triumph, as first-year Morgan Wright (Chelmsford, Mass.) made six saves in 30 minutes, freshman Jenna Shutt (Holliston, Mass.) posted seven stops in 24:45 between the pipes, and freshman Mackenzie Baston (Gray, Maine) turned away two shots in 5:15 of play.

For the Blue Jays, senior starter Nina Lestrud (Torrington, Conn.) made 12 saves in 52:30 minutes while Silvana Barcomb(Middletown, Conn.) allowed a goal in 7:30 of mop-up duty.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Dexter tallied five goals, eight assists, six draw controls, and five ground balls
• Wesley netted five goals with seven ground balls, six draw controls, and three caused turnovers
• Freshman Shauna Clark (Oakland, Maine) scored three goals with three ground balls and a pair of draw controls
• Freshman Brianna Paul (Brattleboro, Vt.) scored two goals with an assist and six ground balls
• Mourmouras and Collins netted two goals apiece

LEADERS – UNIVERSITY OF SAINT JOSEPH:

• Senior Jenna Banta (Montville, Conn.) registered five goals, five ground balls, six draw controls, and a pair of caused turnovers
• Dinger scored three goals with two ground balls
• Junior Cayleen DeFaranos (Northford, Conn.) added two goals and a pair of assists

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 13-0 in the history of the series with University of Saint Joseph.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's will host Simmons University in a battle of GNAC unbeaten teams on Tuesday at 5:00 PM.

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