MANCHESTER, N.H. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team picked up a convincing 18-6 victory over Southern New Hampshire University on Saturday in the First Round of the Northeast-10 Conference postseason.
No. 15-ranked Saint Anselm moves to 10-4 overall, reaching 10 victories for the second consecutive season for just the first time in program history. The Hawks, seeded third in the NE10 postseason, will head to No. 2 seeded Le Moyne on Wednesday, May 4 for a 4 p.m. NE10 semifinals contest in Syracuse, N.Y.
The Hawks have now earned a spot in the NE10 semifinals for the third time since the 2018 season, finishing as the league's runner-up program twice (2018, 2021). Head Coach Michael Sciamanna, in his seventh season at the helm, improves to 60-30 (.667) in his career.
Sophomores Noah Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) and Nick Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) combined to log four goals and five assists for nine points (4-5=9), with Noah tallying three goals with two helpers for a career-high five points (3-2=5) and Nick producing one goal and three assists off the bench. With three helpers, Nick Larsen ranks ninth all-time with 49 career assists.
Graduate student Sean Tomaszewski (Arlington, Mass.) scored three times, giving him 42 goals on the season (seventh all-time, single season history), with junior Jack Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.) contributing three goals of his own. Freshman Joe Lombardi (Holliston, Mass.) racked up two goals and an assist while sophomore Chase Lilly (Trumbull, Conn.) struck twice.
Junior Ryan Slattery (North Andover, Mass.) caused one turnover in the game, giving him 51 in his 32-game career on the Hilltop. Nine student-athletes posted one caused turnover for the Hawks, with junior Andrew Bonavita (Longmeadow, Mass.) picking up a team-best two forced miscues on the day.
Senior CJ Hart (Reading, Mass.) made nine saves on 13 shots, logging three stops in each of his three full quarters of play – he has exceeded last season's career-high total of 133 saves and becomes the second Saint Anselm netminder (Troy Peters '02) to log two seasons with 10 or more goaltending victories. Hart gave way to senior Lance Pfeninger-Racine (Dartmouth, Mass.) in the fourth quarter and he produced three saves of his own, conceding two of the six goals on the afternoon.
Saint Anselm opened up an 8-0 lead with just 7:17 to go in the first half, building a 4-0 lead through the middle of the first quarter with four goal scorers. Southern New Hampshire scored with the extra man at 4:58 before a two-goal run for the Hawks brought the halftime lead to 10-1.
The Hawks grew their lead to 14-2 in the third quarter and eventually led by a 17-4 margin with 6:40 left in regulation thanks to the first collegiate goal by freshman John Colitz (Warwick, R.I.). The Penmen posted the following two goals before a marker from Matt Rawding (Beverly, Mass.) concluded the scoring with under two minutes to go.
Southern New Hampshire was led by two goals from Cody Fleming. Ronan DePaul and Oscar Kozikowski shared the net for the Penmen, allowing 18 goals while making 18 saves combined on the day.
