MANCHESTER, N.H. – Sophomore Mark Vitello (Weymouth, Mass.) recorded his first career hat trick and senior James Peters (Medway, Mass.) added two goals and an assist for a three-point day of his own, but the Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team dropped a heartbreaker to the College of Saint Rose Saturday afternoon at Grappone Stadium, 10-9 in overtime.
The loss drops Saint Anselm to 1-8 overall on the season and 1-6 in Northeast-10 Conference play. It was also the second overtime game played this season by the Hawks, who beat Southern New Hampshire in double-overtime back in early April. Saint Rose, meanwhile, improves to 4-7 overall and 3-5 in NE-10 action.
For really the first time this season, Saint Anselm dominated the possession game as sophomore faceoff specialist Chris McCormack (Ipswitch, Mass.) went 15-for-23 off the restarts. The Hawks also outshot Saint Rose 47-38 and owned an impressive 35-18 advantage on ground ball pickups.
Senior Charles Geraghty's (Nrowich, Vt.) goal just 51 seconds into the game got things off to a great start for the hosts, but the Golden Knights would always have an answer on the day. It took the two teams over 12 minutes to put a goal away in the second period as staunch defense on both sides held tough. Junior Ben Warren (Georgetown, Mass.) finally lined a shot with just 27 seconds left in the game off Peters' assist to give the Hawks a 5-4 lead at the halftime break.
Vitello opened the third quarter with an unassisted tally, but Saint Rose battled back to tie the game at 6-6 heading into the final quarter break. Three quick Saint Anselm goals—two by Peters and another by Vitello—surged Saint Anselm out to a 9-6 lead with just over nine minutes remaining in the game.
Down but clearly not out, the Golden Knights scored three straight—including a backbreaker goal with just over a minute remaining in the game—to send it into an extra session.
With all of the momentum, Saint Rose worked quickly in the overtime period by winning the faceoff and holding possession until the Golden Knights' Kevin Fleming sent a rocket that beat Saint Anselm junior goalkeeper James O'Neill (East Walpole, Mass.) for the game-winner less than a minute into the overtime session.
O'Neill finished the day with eight saves and dropped to 1-6 on the season in net for the Hawks.
Saint Anselm will look to get back on track next week with a pair of road games, traveling to Saint Michael's College Wednesday for a 3:30 p.m. matchup against the Purple Knights before battling intrastate rival Franklin Pierce University for a Saturday matinee slated for noon.
Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter @STAHawks.
