WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Saint Joseph's College of Maine (8-8, 6-4 GNAC) suffered a heartbreaking 8-7 loss to the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) (12-2, 9-1 GNAC) in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Blue Jays opened the scoring at the 14:54 mark of the first quarter, but the Monks answered with back-to-back goals from junior Nicolas Michaud (Wales, Maine) at 6:45 and sophomore Noah Schaeffer (Gray, Maine) at 5:06 to take a 2-1 lead after one.
Saint Joseph's extended its advantage when junior Joseph Kiedaisch (Westminster, Mass.) scored off an assist from junior Aaron Mansfield (Wallingford, Conn.) at 11:11 of the second quarter, but USJ responded with three straight goals to claim a 4-3 halftime edge.
The Monks answered in the third. Kiedaisch tied the game at 11:26 before sophomore Chase Ranger (Farmington, Maine) scored three times in the quarter — including a man-up marker at 9:38 — to help Saint Joseph's build a 7-5 advantage entering the fourth.
University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) rallied in the final period, getting goals from Nick Pestrichello at 13:32 and Brenden Tedeschi at 6:05 before Freeman Johnson scored the game-winner with 58 seconds left.
STATS OF THE GAME:
Despite taking a two-goal lead into the fourth quarter, the Monks were outshot 45-28 and trailed in both shots on goal (23-19) and ground balls (37-33) on the afternoon.
THE KEEPERS:
- Sophomore Jake Dernier (Marshfield, Mass.) was excellent in the setback and made 15 saves for Saint Joseph's.
- Noah Isleib stopped 12 shots to earn the win for the Blue Jays.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH:
- Chase Ranger – 3 goals
- Joseph Kiedaisch – 2 goals, 1 assist, 3 ground balls
- Tony Samiotes (Gr., Hampstead, N.H.) – 5 ground balls, 1 caused turnover
- Kevin Wood (Sr., Danvers, Mass.) – 3 caused turnovers, 2 ground balls
- Zander Kirk (Jr., West Bath, Maine) – 5 ground balls, 9-of-17 face-offs
LEADERS – UNIVERSITY OF SAINT JOSEPH (CONN.):
- Dominic Oakes – 2 goals, 1 assist
- Nick Pestrichello – 2 goals
- Brenden Tedeschi – 1 goal, 1 assist
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 1-5 all-time against the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.).
NEXT!
The Monks return to action on Tuesday when they travel to face New England College in their regular-season finale at 4:00 PM.