NEWTON, Mass. – #6 Saint Joseph's College of Maine (10-8, 7-4 GNAC) stunned #3 Lasell University (10-8, 8-3 GNAC), 7-6, in overtime in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Quarterfinal matchup on Saturday afternoon.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:
With the upset victory, Saint Joseph's advances to the semifinal round and will play at #2 University of Saint Joseph on Wednesday at 6:00 PM. USJ toppled #7 Dean College, 21-10, in other quarterfinal action this afternoon.
For Lasell, the loss brings an end to the 2026 campaign.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Saint Joseph's struck first in the opening quarter, as junior Joseph Kiedaisch (Westminster, Mass.) scored at the 6:55 mark to give the Monks a 1-0 lead. Lasell answered with a man-up goal from Nate Campbell at 4:03 to even the score at 1-1 after one.
The Monks gained control in the second quarter, as graduate student Jack Leach (Pembroke, Mass.) scored unassisted at 8:55 before senior Jon Elliott (Upton, Mass.) finished a feed from freshman Aidan Byrne (West Newbury, Mass.) at 2:28, giving Saint Joseph's a 3-1 advantage at halftime.
Lasell cut into the deficit early in the third with a Julian Vogel goal at 5:04, but Saint Joseph's responded in the closing seconds of the frame when Leach netted his second of the game with just 12 seconds remaining to push the lead to 4-2.
The fourth quarter delivered a dramatic swing. Lasell took its first lead of the game with three consecutive goals — Vogel at 11:56, Carson Tucker at 10:07, and Vogel again at 8:00 — to go up 5-4. The Monks answered, as Elliott tied the game at 5:22 off another Byrne assist, and junior Nicolas Michaud (Wales, Maine) gave Saint Joseph's a 6-5 edge with a goal at 3:37 off an Elliott feed. Lasell forced overtime when Jason Martin scored with just two seconds remaining to make it 6-6.
In overtime, Saint Joseph's capitalized on a man-up opportunity, as sophomore Maxwell Plunske (South Windsor, Conn.) buried the game-winning goal at the 0:19 mark off an assist from Kiedaisch to secure the 7-6 victory.
STATS OF THE GAME:
Lasell controlled much of the possession, holding advantages in shots (45-31), shots on goal (25-17), ground balls (33-24), and faceoffs (12-5), but Saint Joseph's made the most of its opportunities, including the decisive extra-man goal in overtime.
THE KEEPERS:
Sophomore Jake Dernier (Marshfield, Mass.) was outstanding for the Monks, making a career-high 19 saves while picking up three ground balls.
Dominick Ciarelli recorded 10 saves for Lasell.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Jon Elliott – 2 goals, 1 assist
- Jack Leach – 2 goals
- Joseph Kiedaisch – 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 ground balls
- Aidan Byrne – 2 assists
- Kevin Wood (Sr., Danvers, Mass.) – 3 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers
- Tony Samiotes (Gr., Hampstead, N.H.) – 2 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers
- Jacob Magri (So., North Hampton, N.H.) – 2 caused turnovers
- Cody Southwick (So., Saco, Maine) – 4 ground balls, 3-of-7 face-offs
LEADERS – LASELL:
- Julian Vogel – 3 goals, 5 ground balls
- Jason Martin – 1 goal, 1 assist, 4 ground balls
- Colin LeBaron – 2 assists
- Nicholas Kaufman – 3 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers
- Tyler Chiccino – 3 ground balls, 1 caused turnover
- Connor Gibson – 3 caused turnovers, 2 ground balls
- Matthew Carbone – 8 ground balls, 12-of-17 face-offs
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 2-11 all-time against Lasell University.
