MANCHESTER, N.H. - Sophomore attack Andrew Messner (Wakefield, R.I.) and freshman attack Geoff Kennedy (Gloucester, Mass.) combined for six goals and four assists as the Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team posted a 13-5 victory over the Raiders of Roberts Wesleyan College in their home opener at Grappone Stadium on Monday. With the victory, Saint Anselm has won their last two games to feature a 2-1 overall record. The Raiders drop their third-straight game to open the season and fall to 0-3 cumulatively.
Saint Anselm opened up an 8-0 lead through the first two periods of the game. Messner had a hand in six of the first eight goals of the game, scoring twice and adding three assists for five points (2-3=5) in the first 30 minutes. Sophomore midfielder Jake Mallinson (Middletown, R.I.) scored his first goal of the game with 6:30 remaining in the first period, sparking an eight-goal run for the Hawks. Kennedy potted the assist on Mallinson's first goal of the season and then scored two-straight goals, including a man-up goal only 24 seconds following Mallinson's game-opener.
Senior midfielders Michael DeVita (Annandale, N.J.) and Tyler Steinetz (Sparta, N.J.) added the next two goals for Saint Anselm, upping their lead to 5-0 exiting the first stanza. Messner struck twice in the second, with Mallinson capping off the scoring in the first half from an Alex Vinciguerra (Canton, Mass.) assist.
In the second half of the contest, the Raiders rebounded to match the Hawks in scoring, tallying five goals in the final 30 minutes of the game. Junior attack Colin Conarie potted two goals and an assist for the Raiders in the second half while junior Brett Capp added two of his own. Freshman midfielder David Smith, who led the team with 10 shots, added his team-leading eighth goal of the season to conclude the Roberts Wesleyan scoring attack on the day.
The Hawks saw goals from five different players in the final half, as Messner and Kennedy tallied third period goals for Saint Anselm. Freshman midfielder Andy Budz (Williamstown, Mass.) and sophomore midfielder Matthew Steele (Ipswich, Mass.) scored the Hawks 11th and 12th goals, respectively, with Mallinson rounding out the scoring with the final goal of the game for Saint Anselm. Freshman attack Charles Geraghty (Etna, N.H.) saw action for the first time this season, recording assists on the final two Saint Anselm tallies of the afternoon.
Junior goaltender Jonathon O'Reilly (Plano, Texas) collected his second victory of both his career and the season, making four saves on six shots. Freshman goaltender Patrick Nichols (Exeter, N.H.) made his collegiate debut in the fourth quarter, turning aside four-of-seven shots on net. Sophomore netminder Matt Hamilton falls to 0-3 on the season, allowing 13 goals on 25 shots on net.
Saint Anselm was 1-for-2 with their extra-man opportunities. Roberts Wesleyan was held scoreless (0-for-3) with the extra player.
NOTABLES: Attackmen Andrew Messner and Geoff Kennedy rank first and second, respectively, amongst offensive players in the Northeast-10 Conference as Messner has seven goals to his credit while Kennedy has recorded four tallies on the season…Kennedy also leads all players in the NE-10 with 20 shots…Netminder Jonathan O'Reilly ranks second amongst qualifying goaltenders in the conference with a 5.67 goals-against average alongside a conference-best 28 saves…Freshman Charles Geraghty scored his first two collegiate points this afternoon, assisting on the Hawks final two strikes of the contest.
Saint Anselm returns to action this Friday, Mar. 9 as they host the Purple Knights of Saint Michael's College to open up their Northeast-10 Conference calendar of games at Grappone Stadium at 7:00 p.m. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by following the Hawks on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/STAHawks) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/STAHawks).
