ERIE, Pa. – The Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team scored six of the game's final eight goals and buried an overtime game-winning tally to down Seton Hill University by a 12-11 score in the First Round of the NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Championship.
Making the program's first NCAA postseason appearance, the nationally-ranked Hawks improve to 13-1 overall on the season. Checking in as the No. 8 program in NCAA Division II men's lacrosse, Saint Anselm toppled the sixth-ranked Griffins, who see their season come to a close with an 11-3 overall record.
Saint Anselm advances to the Quarterfinals round of the NCAA postseason, taking on No. 1-ranked Le Moyne once again this Sunday, May 16 at 1 p.m. – since defeating Saint Anselm in the Northeast-10 Conference title bout last week, the Dolphins have enjoyed a first-round bye in the NCAA Championship. The game will be played at Saxon Stadium on the campus of Mercyhurst University.
Freshman Noah Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) capped off the hat trick with a game-winning overtime goal just 2:41 into the overtime period. Less than a minute after a caused turnover by senior Thomas Mapstone (Andover, Mass.), sophomore Jack Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.) maintained Saint Anselm possession by scooping up a shot that was saved, securing the clutch ground ball.
Later in the possession, Larsen circled around the back of the net and fired a shot on frame. Seton Hill backstop Kevin Mo appeared to get a stick on the ball, but it found its way into the back of the net for the game-winning tally. Larsen capped off the day with a career-high three goals and two assists for a team-leading five points (3-2=5).
To force overtime, Saint Anselm had to overcome a three-goal deficit with 4:59 to go in the third quarter. The Hawks scored four goals in a row between 4:08 of the third and 7:26 of the fourth quarter, capturing a 10-9 lead as senior Ryan Melley (Reading, Mass.) scored his 13th goal of the season.
Seton Hill responded in the game's final two minutes, scoring twice by sandwiching a goal from senior Matt Ward (Shrewsbury, Mass.) to force overtime. Despite the two Griffins goals in the final 15 minutes of regulation, the Hawks outshot Seton Hill by a 17-to-8 margin and appeared to have momentum on their side entering the overtime period.
Saint Anselm backstop CJ Hart (Reading, Mass.) made a nice save in overtime, preserving the game for the Hawks by stopping Seton Hill's Blake Profio just 50 seconds into the period. Senior Will Palmer (Concord, Mass.) was also instrumental in setting up Larsen's overtime winner, successfully picking up the ground ball and completing the clearance attempt.
Saint Anselm opened up a 3-1 lead against Seton Hill as senior Ryan Richards (Mendon, Mass.) scored two of those goals off feeds from Melley. Larsen's first marker of the game pushed the Hawks ahead by a 3-1 score with 6:23 to go in the first quarter.
Seton Hill took over the first half with five consecutive goals, including two with the man advantage, to capture a 6-3 lead with 7:46 to go in the second quarter. Andrews picked up his first goal of the game and his 34th of the season with just over 90 seconds left on the first half scoreboard, taking the Hawks into the locker room down by just four.
The Hawks struck first in the second half as sophomore Callen Willwerth (Northborough, Mass.) scored an unassisted tally at 11:29 of the third. Seton Hill re-established a three-goal bulge at 8-5 before Richards' third goal of the game slowed the Griffins' momentum.
Following a Seton Hill goal with 4:59 left in the third, Larsen, sophomore Craig Yannone (Lynnfield, Mass.), Noah Larsen and Melley scored four Saint Anselm goals in a row to dramatically take a 10-9 lead with under eight minutes go in regulation.
Sophomore Andrew Bonavita (Longmeadow, Mass.) matched a season-high mark with six ground balls and Mapstone caused a team-leading three turnovers as the Hawks defense kept their team in the game. Sophomore Ryan Slattery (North Andover, Mass.) also helped the defensive cause with two caused turnovers for Saint Anselm.
Hart earned his 13th victory of the season, making nine saves on 21 shots. Mo drew the tough loss for Seton Hill, making 25 saves on 37 shots in the narrow defeat.
Head Coach Mike Sciamanna earned the 50th victory at the helm of the Saint Anselm men's lacrosse team. Since joining the Hawks prior to the 2016 season, Sciamanna has racked up 50 wins against just 25 defeats (.667).
