STANDISH, Maine – In a GNAC men's lacrosse matchup on Saturday afternoon, Saint Joseph's College (Maine) (3-7, 1-3) battled to the end but came up short against visiting University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) (5-5, 3-1), falling 13-9 at the SJC Athletic Complex.

The Monks came out firing, grabbing an early 3-2 lead after the opening quarter and putting pressure on the Blue Jays throughout. Despite outshooting USJ 60-36 and winning 18 of 25 face-offs, the hosts were unable to overcome a second-quarter surge by the visitors, who used a 7-1 run to build a 9-4 halftime advantage.

Senior Will Levesque (Marlow, N.H.) led the offensive effort for Saint Joseph's with two goals and two assists. Brandon Cavicchi (Kingston, MA) scored twice on 15 shots, while Tiger Hopkins (Leeds, ME) chipped in with a goal and two helpers. Seven different Monks found the back of the net in the loss, highlighting a well-rounded attack.

SJC's hustle was evident on the stat sheet. The Monks dominated the ground ball battle (37-16), were a perfect 14-for-14 on clears, and committed just eight turnovers to USJ's 13. Faceoff specialist Zander Kirk (Bath, Maine) won 16 of 23 draws, while Aidan Dennis (Hooksett, N.H.) picked up a team-high six ground balls. In goal, Reed Wescott (Windham, ME) made 10 saves on 23 shots faced.

For the Blue Jays, Aidan D'Amato led the way with four goals, and Evan Baden tallied five points on three goals and two assists. Trey McCann was key in net, turning away 20 of the Monks' 29 shots on goal to preserve the win.

Saint Joseph's closed strong, outscoring USJ 3-2 in the final quarter and generating several chances, but the deficit proved too much to overcome.

The Monks are back in action at Rivier on Wednesday evening.