PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Theodores '25

HENNIKER, N.H. – Saint Joseph's College (9-7, 6-3 GNAC) held off New England College (3-11, 2-7 GNAC), 12-10, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) North Division men's lacrosse game on Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Saint Joseph's started the contest with three straight scores in the first seven minutes, as junior Aidan Dennis (Hooksett, N.H.) made it a 3-0 game with eight minutes remaining in the first quarter. Henri Pfeifle put the hosts on the board with a man-up marker at the 6:32 mark, but St. Joe's capped the frame with goals from Tim Goodfellow (Wayland, Mass.) and Joseph Kiedaisch (Westminster, Mass.) to take a 5-1 lead into the next period.

The Pilgrims tightened the collar with back-to-back man-up goals from Duncan Fleming early in the second stanza, but the Monks capped the opening half with a 4-2 scoring run that featured a pair of Xavier Michaud (Wales, Maine) strikes and maintained a 9-5 advantage heading into the break.

New England College received goals from Pfeifle and Kyle Hamilton in a matter of two-plus minutes early in the third quarter to cut the SJC lead to 9-7 with 10:23 left in the frame, but Michaud scored twice and grad Nathaniel Girardin (Brunswick, Maine) added another tally during a 3-1 St. Joe's run that saw the visitors carry a 12-8 lead into the final period.

The fourth quarter featured just a pair of goals, both by the Pilgrims, as Pfeifle and Matt Daley both struck in the closing minute of play.

TEAM STATS:

NEC held the lead in shots (40-32), shots on goal (22-21), ground balls (36-29), and caused turnovers (15-10) while SJC posted a 15-9 advantage in face-off victories.

THE KEEPERS:

Saint Joseph's freshman Reed Wescott (Windham, Maine) made 10 saves with three ground balls while NEC starter Nate Finn turned away nine shots in a complete-game effort.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Michaud netted five goals on 10 shots with three ground balls
• Goodfellow added two goals and four assists
• Sophomore Tiger Hopkins (Leeds, Maine) netted a goal with two assists
• Junior Will Levesque (Marlow, N.H.) chipped in with a goal and two helpers
• Freshman Zander Kirk (Bath, Maine) was 9-for-12 on face-off attempts with three ground balls
• Girardin contributed a goal and an assist with two ground balls
• Freshman Cameron Leeds (Derry, N.H.) and sophomore Nick Wesley (Peabody, Mass.) added four ground balls apiece

LEADERS – NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE:

• Pfeifle scored four goals with four assists and four ground balls and registered 17 shots
• Daley added two goals and two assists
• Fleming produced two goals and three ground balls
• Jackson Kain posted six ground balls and three caused turnovers

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

Saint Joseph's is now 4-1 all-time versus New England College.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's caps the regular season with a home conference game versus Emmanuel College at 4:00 PM on Wednesday.

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