MELBOURNE, Fla. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team picked up a thrilling 17-16 overtime victory over the Florida Institute of Technology on Monday.
Box Score
Saint Anselm, ranked No. 18 in NCAA Division II by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, improves to 2-0 on the season while Florida Tech drops to 2-5 on the year.
The Hawks led by a 14-11 margin in the fourth quarter, but five consecutive goals by the Panthers turned the tables. Trailing by a 16-14 score with under 90 seconds left, Saint Anselm sent home two goals to tie the game and force overtime.
In the extra period, Saint Anselm senior Matt Cullinan (Jupiter, Fla.) scored his career-high fifth goal of the game to complete the comeback in Florida. Cullinan's previous game-high total was three goals, accomplished on three prior occasions.
Senior Ryan Richards (Mendon, Mass.) poste a career-high three goals and four assists for seven points (3-4=7), leading the way offensively for the Hawks. Junior Matt Ward (Shrewsbury, Mass.) fired home three goals with freshman Jack Robinson (Wilbraham, Mass.) chipping in with two goals and as many assists for four points (2-2=4). Junior Griffin Shoemaker (Shirley, Mass.) had two goals and recorded the game-tying goal to force overtime.
The two teams played to a 5-5 score at the end of the first quarter and neither team pulled away to start the second as Florida Tech's first two strikes were quickly answered by the Hawks. The Panthers had the last offensive push leading into halftime, taking a 9-7 lead with back-to-back strikes in the final 5:15 of the first half.
The third quarter was all Saint Anselm, who built up a 13-11 lead with six of the eight goals out of the break. Cullinan's fourth goal of the contest came just 1:36 into the fourth quarter, putting the Hawks ahead by a 14-11 margin.
Freshman Craig Yannone (Lynnfield, Mass.) had a solid performance for Saint Anselm, winning 23 of his 37 face-off opportunities and scooping up eight ground balls to tie junior Thomas Mapstone (Andover, Mass.) for the team lead in that statistic. Robinson corralled six ground balls in the overtime victory.
Hawks backstop CJ Hart (Reading, Mass.) made nine saves on 25 shots, picking up his second victory of the 2020 campaign. Vincent Palermo drew the loss for the Panthers, conceding 17 goals on 33 shots despite 16 saves for his side.
The Hawks and Panthers combined for only three failed clears on the afternoon. Florida Tech converted on two out of its three man-up opportunities, but Saint Anselm held the statistical edge in shots taken, 45-39.
29 of the Hawks 44 ground balls came in the third and fourth quarters.
