STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (1-1) battled Salem State University (0-1) — as well as late whiteout snow conditions — and pulled away for a 12-7 victory in non-conference men's lacrosse action at the SJC Athletics Complex on Friday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Saint Joseph's opened the scoring quickly, posting three goals in the first quarter to take a 3-0 lead. Junior Nicolas Michaud (Wales, Maine) put the Monks on the board at the 13:31 mark, followed by tallies from graduate student Jack Leach (Pembroke, Mass.) and junior Brandon Cavicchi (Kingston, Mass.).

The Monks carried the momentum into the second quarter, extending the advantage behind another Cavicchi goal, a strike from sophomore Noah Schaeffer (Gray, Maine), and two more from Michaud to go up 7-2 at halftime. Salem State sophomore Joseph Turpin (Groveland, Mass.) scored both of the Vikings' goals before the break.

Salem State answered in the third period with a three-goal burst, as Grady Smith (Beverly, Mass.) scored twice and Landon Rice (Sturbridge, Mass.) cut the SJC lead to 7-5. Saint Joseph's regained control with goals from sophomore Maxwell Plunske (South Windsor, Conn.) and Leach to extend the lead to 9-5.

In the fourth quarter, Saint Joseph's put the game out of reach with early tallies from Leach and Michaud, pushing the lead to 11-5 before Rice and Turpin scored a goal apiece in a two-minute span. The visitors' momentum did not hold, however, as Cavicchi netted his third goal of the game with 4:19 left to seal the 12-7 win.

STATS OF THE GAME:

Saint Joseph's held the edge in shots (38-28) and shots on goal (22-14) while also controlling ground balls (25-17). The Monks were effective on clears (24-for-28), though they went 0-for-3 on extra-man opportunities.

THE KEEPERS:

The Monks split time in goal, with sophomore Jake Dernier (Marshfield, Mass.) earning the win (three saves, two goals allowed in the first half). Junior Reed Wescott (Windham, Maine) turned away four shots while allowing five goals in the second half.

Salem State sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Cohen (Bedford, Mass.) finished with 10 saves.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Nicolas Michaud: 4 goals
• Brandon Cavicchi: 3 goals, 1 assist
• Jack Leach: 3 goals
• David Cook (Sr., Upton, Mass.): 3 assists
• Joseph Kiedaisch (Jr., Westminster, Mass.): 3 assists
• Alec Henry (So., Hampstead, N.H.): 4 caused turnovers, 2 ground balls
• Cody Southwick (So., Saco, Maine): 3 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers
• Zander Kirk (Jr., West Bath, Maine): 5 ground balls, 12-of-20 face-offs

LEADERS – SALEM STATE:

• Joseph Turpin: 3 goals
• Landon Rice: 2 goals
• Grady Smith: 2 goals
• Jaxon Thomas (Jr., Beverly, Mass.): 4 caused turnovers, 2 ground balls

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 2-8 in the history of the series with Salem State University.

NEXT!

The Monks will return to action with a non-conference game at Maine Maritime Academy on Wednesday at 4:00 PM.