MANCHESTER, N.H. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team picked up a key victory over the Setters from Pace University on Wednesday, earning a 14-10 win at Grappone Stadium.
Saint Anselm, the No. 16-ranked team in NCAA Division II, moves to 8-4 overall with a 6-3 record in Northeast-10 Conference play. With one regular season game to go, the Hawks and Setters (10-3, 6-3 NE10) are tied for third place in the league behind Le Moyne (8-0 NE10) and Adelphi (8-0 NE10).
Junior Jack Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.) matched a career-high with five goals. Sophomore Nick Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) contributed with a goal and three assists for four points (3-1=4) and graduate student Sean Tomaszewski (Arlington, Mass.) eclipsed 100 career points on the Hilltop, scoring three goals in the winning effort.
Across a 43-game career on the Hilltop, Tomaszewski becomes just the 21st student-athlete in team history to reach 100 career points in a Saint Anselm uniform. He has scored 71 goals with 30 assists, ranking 14th in team annals in goal scoring – his 1.65 goals per game is 13th in the team's 29-year history.
Saint Anselm held the statistical advantages in shots (53-to-41), ground balls (30-to-26) and was a commanding 18-for-28 on face-offs in the game, thanks to the performance of junior AJ Caprio (Scituate, Mass.) who finished with nine ground balls.
The Hawks trailed by a 4-1 margin and were down by a 7-4 margin just minutes into the second half of play. Saint Anselm responded with a dominant stretch, scoring seven consecutive goals to take an 11-7 lead with 12:23 left in regulation time.
Pace scored three times in the fourth quarter to trim the Hawks advantage. Saint Anselm held on to the win, however, putting home 10 of the final 13 goals – two of the three goals scored by Pace came with the extra man.
Senior CJ Hart (Reading, Mass.) earned his 25th career victory for Saint Anselm in goal, making eight saves on 18 shots. Louis Ragusa halted 21 shots on net for Pace, drawing the loss by conceding 14 goals to the Hawks.
Winners of 24 of its last 30 games, Saint Anselm concludes the regular season of play at Assumption on Tuesday, Apr. 26 at 7 p.m.