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Men's Lacrosse celebration

PREVIEW: NE10 Men's Lacrosse Championship - No. 1 Le Moyne at No. 9 Saint Anselm

5/7/2021 4:15:00 PM

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Saint Anselm College will host the championship game of the Northeast-10 Conference postseason tournament on Saturday. The undefeated Hawks (12-0), ranked ninth in NCAA Division II, will welcome undefeated Le Moyne College (11-0) to Grappone Stadium at 1 p.m.

Saint Anselm has set a program record with 12 victories in 2021. The Hawks are ranked No. 9 in NCAA Division II, according to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's NCAA Division II Coaches' Poll, and earned the top seed throughout the NE10 postseason.

Le Moyne is the owner of an 11-0 record so far this season and is ranked No. 1 in the country, according to the USILA national coaches' poll. The Dolphins, who enter play as the No. 2 seed in the NE10 postseason, have won five NCAA Division II Championships in their lengthy history and own 14 NE10 titles as a team.

Both teams carry winning streaks of 15 games into play on Saturday.

Saint Anselm opened postseason play with a convincing 25-5 victory over Assumption on Saturday, May 1 before most recently downing No. 14 Pace, 12-10, in Wednesday's NE10 Semifinals action. Le Moyne handled Franklin Pierce on Saturday, winning by a 15-5 score, and later added a 14-10 win against No. 7-ranked Adelphi on Wednesday.

Saint Anselm students, faculty, staff and members of the Monastic community will be allowed to attend Saturday's NE10 Championship contest. All other spectators are not permitted to attend the game at Grappone Stadium. For more information, please refer to our Spectator Policy.

Live Statistics and Live Video will be available via the NE10 Now Network.

SCOUTING SAINT ANSELM

  • With a postseason victory over Pace on Wednesday, Saint Anselm set a program record with its 12 victory of the year. The Hawks also extended their program-record winning streak to 15 games, scoring six fourth-quarter goals to topple the Setters, who see their season come to a close at 6-7.
  • Head Coach Michael Sciamanna, the 2021 NE10 Coach of the Year, became the winningest coach in Saint Anselm history, winning the 49th game of his career (49-24, .671). One of the most consistent programs in the Northeast, Sciamanna inherited a team that posted a 2-11 record in 2015 and had just two postseason wins, all time – he has now led his team to two NE10 title game berths (2018, 2021).
  • Down by as many as three goals in the third quarter against Pace, the Hawks scored eight of the game's final 11 markers to capture the thrilling win. With the score locked in at nine with 8:17 to go in regulation time, seniors Matt Ward (Shrewsbury, Mass.), Ryan Richards (Mendon, Mass.) and Griffin Shoemaker (Shirley, Mass.) scored in succession to create a 12-9 lead with 39 seconds left in regulation time.
  • Ward, a First Team All-NE10 pick, extended his goal scoring streak to 17 games, scoring two goals to give him exactly 40 on the season – he is just the fifth student-athlete to reach that milestone in a season. Shoemaker and Richards fired home three goals apiece with freshman Nick Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) contributing one goal and two assists. Sophomore Jack Robinson (Wilbraham, Mass.) cashed in with two assists as well.
  • Sophomore Ryan Slattery (North Andover, Mass.) played a huge part on defense for Saint Anselm, causing a team-best three turnovers and collecting as many ground balls against Pace. Sophomore Craig Yannone (Lynnfield, Mass.) won 15-of-25 face-offs on the day, including eight-of-nine in the fourth quarter, to help the Hawks complete the comeback attempt.
  • Saint Anselm leads the country in ground balls per game (44.83), scoring defense (5.50) and is tied with Le Moyne and Tampa for best winning percentage in NCAA Division II. The Hawks also rank second nationally in scoring margin (12.67) and fourth in ground balls (538), points per game (29.0) and scoring offense (18.17).
  • Senior CJ Hart (Reading, Mass.), the NE10 Goalkeeper of the Year, became the first Saint Anselm with a 12-0 single-season record with a win over Pace. He leads the nation in goals-against average (5.23) and save percentage (0.647). In his four-year career on the Hilltop, Hart owns a 16-2 overall record.
  • Sophomore Jack Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.), who earned a share of NE10 Rookie of the Year honors, has eight man-up goals on the season, ranking fifth nationally after posting the second-most among NE10 student-athletes. The Second Team All-NE10 selection is tied with Ryan Mee '14 for the single-season record, which he accomplished in 2013.
  • Nick Larsen also ranks nationally in assists per game, posting 2.33 to rank 12th in Division II. He has handed out 27 assists so far for Saint Anselm, the eighth-most in a single season. He needs just three more helpers to reach 30, a feat accomplished just three times before by two student-athletes (Brian O'Leary '01, Matt O'Connell '10).
  • Ward's 3.33 goals per game is the country's 11th best figure and his five man-up goals are fifth in the NE10 and 27th nationally. The 3.33 goals per game is the second-best single-season mark in team history, trailing only the mark of 3.71 accomplished by Larry DeFranco '03 during the 2001 season. He needs just six points of offense to reach 150 in his career.
  • Yannone, who earned Third Team All-Conference merits, has reeled in 80 ground balls, averaging a program-record 7.27 per game this season. So far this season, Yannone has won 159-of-259 (.614) at the face-off "X" and was also listed as an All-Rookie Team pick by the NE10 coaches.
  • Senior Thomas Mapstone (Andover, Mass.) passed Drew Bourdeau '18 to capture 10th place on the all-time career list with 130 ground balls in his career. Mapstone was a Second Team All-Conference selection who earned Preseason All-America honors from the USILA prior to the season.
  • Collectively, the Hawks have tallied 351 points of offense via 218 goals and 133 assists (218-133=351), the most in program history. Saint Anselm has also set single-season team records for wins (12), points per game (29.25), goals per game (18.17), assists per game (11.08), face-off win-loss percentage (.633, 202-for-319), and goals-against average (5.50).

SCOUTING LE MOYNE

  • The Dolphins have posted an 11-0 record this season and have won 15 games in a row dating back to the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The team's last loss was to Merrimack in the second game of the NCAA Division II Tournament. Coincidentally, Saint Anselm's active 15-game winning streak began after a loss to Merrimack in the NE10 Championship game in 2018.
  • Since the 2000 season, Le Moyne has compiled a dominant 317-37 (.895) overall record. The Dolphins haven't lost three or more games in a campaign since 1999, going 6-8 that year.
  • The Dolphins feature a well-rounded offense with six student-athletes logging 22 points of offense or more. Not one member of the roster has more than 29 points and the balance extends far beyond the starting lineup – 24 student-athletes have at least one goal on the season.
  • Matt Hutchings was named NE10 Player of the Year at the end of April. A fifth-year student-athlete out of Marcellus, N.Y., Hutchings has scored 12 goals with 17 assists for 29 points (12-17=29) in just seven games in 2021, scoring at least five points of offense in five of those seven games.
  • Kevin Sheehan is one of the most efficient shooters in all of NCAA Division II, posting a shot percentage of .529 to rank third in the country and second in the NE10. He has scored 18 goals on 34 shots taken in 2021.
  • Sam Kury leads Le Moyne with a .674 face-off winning percentage, leading the NE10 and ranking 11th in the country.
  • Nate Arnold is a senior leader for Le Moyne on defense, playing in 10 games and reeling in 29 ground balls and causing 21 turnovers. He also has two goals on the season, scoring on each of his shot attempts.
  • The Dolphins employ a goalkeeping tandem as Frank Delia has played in all nine games, as has Riley Smith. Smith owns a 6-0 record with a .591 save percentage and Delia has won five games, posting a .564 save percentage. Along with sophomore Max Tedesco, Le Moyne has a team goals-against average of 6.90.
  • The Dolphins are coached by Dan Sheehan, the first coach to lead Le Moyne to a national championship. He owns a 329-54 (.859) overall record since joining the Dolphins prior to the 1998 campaign.

ALL-TIME vs. LE MOYNE

  • The Dolphins hold a distinct edge in the all-time series between both teams. Le Moyne has won 25 of the 26 all-time fixtures, but the one loss certainly stands out for Saint Anselm.
  • In the NE10 Semifinals in 2018, the Hawks traveled to Syracuse, N.Y. and handed the No. 1 team in the country, Le Moyne, a 9-8 defeat in overtime. With the win, Saint Anselm went on to play for the first NE10 Championship in program history while Le Moyne fell to 15-1 – the Dolphins were the last undefeated team in NCAA Division II that year.
  • Le Moyne has averaged 15.04 goals against Saint Anselm since 1997, when the first-ever meeting took place. The Hawks have scored an average of just 3.85 goals against the perennial Division II power in those 26 meetings.

ALL-TIME in NE10 POSTSEASON PLAY

  • The Hawks are making just their second-ever appearance in the NE10 Championship game, most recently achieving the feat in 2018. Saint Anselm fell to Merrimack by an 11-7 score on May 6, 2018 – the Warriors would win the NCAA Division II Championship that season and the Hawks put up the closest margin of defeat that Merrimack saw in the playoffs.
  • Le Moyne is playing in its 19th NE10 title game in the last 24 seasons. The Dolphins enter as the reigning NE10 champions and has won 14 of its last 18 games in the conference's final game of the year.
  • Saint Anselm is 6-14 in NE10 postseason play, making the conference tournament on 15 occasions since 1999. The Hawks remain in search of their first NE10 postseason championship.
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