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PREVIEW: No. 13 men's lacrosse to face No. 4 Le Moyne in NCAA First Round

5/10/2022 9:30:00 PM

MANCHESTER, N.H. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team returns to the NCAA Division II postseason on Wednesday, May 11, taking on the host Dolphins from Le Moyne College at 4 p.m.

No. 13 SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE HAWKS (10-5)
Roster | Schedule and Results | Statistics | News

No. 4 LE MOYNE COLLEGE DOLPHINS (14-3)
Roster | Schedule and Results | Statistics | News

Ranked 13th in NCAA Division II, according to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's national poll, Saint Anselm (10-5) will enter the upcoming NCAA tournament as the No. 6 seed and will face the No. 3 seed, Le Moyne (14-3), in a re-match of last week's NE10 semifinals game.

Saint Anselm has won at least 10 games for the second consecutive season in 2022, compiling exactly 10 victories in 15 games to date. Last season, the Hawks made their first NCAA Division II postseason appearance and defeated Seton Hill in overtime in the First Round, completing the year with a 13-2 overall record.

The Hawks have ranked first in the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's coaches' poll all season, with the exception of the Apr. 11 poll which saw the Hawks fall to second. Since that poll, however, the Hawks have returned to the top of the five-team New England list.

Le Moyne has made the NCAA postseason for the 19th time with Sunday's announcement of the six-team regional field. The six-time national champions most recently won in 2021, eliminating Saint Anselm from the tournament in the NCAA quarterfinals on May 16.

The other First Round contest in the North Region is between the No. 4-seeded Mercyhurst (11-4) outfit and fifth-seeded Seton Hill (12-6). The game will be played in Erie, Pa. at the former's campus. That winner will take on top-seeded Mercy (14-1) at Mercy in the next round.

Wednesday's winner between Le Moyne and Saint Anselm is ticketed to play at No. 2-seeded Adelphi (14-1) in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Sunday, May 15 at 1 p.m. on Long Island.

LAST TIME OUT vs. LE MOYNE (May 4, 2022)

  • Saint Anselm built a halftime lead at Le Moyne last Wednesday in the Northeast-10 Conference Semifinals, ultimately falling to the Dolphins by a 15-11 margin at Ted Grant Field.
  • The reigning NCAA Division II national champions from Le Moyne trailed by three goals twice in the first quarter and were down by one goal, 7-6, at the half before scoring on each of the team's nine second-half shots on goal to rally past Saint Anselm.
  • Sophomores Noah Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) and Nick Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) each scored two goals and an assist for three points (2-1=3), leading the way offensively for Saint Anselm. Nick, who reached 40 points on the season (18-22=40) for the first time in his career, scored twice in the first half to build the several Saint Anselm leads while Noah put home two of his team's four goals in the final 30 minutes of play.
  • Freshman Colin Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) and junior Jack Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.) scored twice with sophomore Chase Lilly (Trumbull, Conn.), senior Thomas Ackil (Southborough, Mass.) and freshman Joe Lombardi (Holliston, Mass.) rounding out the goal scoring. Mulvey had back-to-back goals for Saint Anselm in the second half to slow the strong offensive push by Le Moyne to open the third quarter.
  • Junior Ryan Slattery (North Andover, Mass.), recently named the NE10 Defensive Player of the Year, had four ground balls in the loss with two caused turnovers. He has now forced 26 miscues to date this season, the fifth-most in a single campaign.
  • With the game tied at 10 late in the fourth quarter, the Hawks lost the ensuing face-off but then got the ball back with under eight minutes to go. A critical over-and-back call on Saint Anselm, however, gave possession right to Le Moyne – the Dolphins capitalized, sending home two consecutive goals to take a 12-10 lead with 5:55 left.
  • Senior goalkeeper CJ Hart (Reading, Mass.) made four saves for Saint Anselm. Frank Delia halted 13-of-24 shots on net for Le Moyne, earning the victory in goal.

HAWKS NOTABLES

  • A wildly-popular club sport for many years at Saint Anselm, the Hawks debuted as a varsity program in 1994 and played their games on Cofran Field, the predecessor to modern-day Melucci Field, the home of Saint Anselm men's and women's soccer.
  • The program played on grass at home, including select games on the grass playing field at Grappone Stadium until the 2012 campaign, moving full-time to Grappone Stadium and its brand-new FieldTurf surface. The original turf surface will be replaced starting next week and will feature a brand-new design.
  • Saint Anselm has won at least 10 games for the second consecutive season in 2022. The Hawks have ranked first in the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's coaches' poll all season, with the exception of the Apr. 11 poll which saw the Hawks fall to second.
  • The Hawks have won 10 or more games on just five occasions (1999, 2002, 2018, 2021, 2022). Saint Anselm first fielded a varsity men's lacrosse team in 1994.
  • The Hawks have maintained discipline with the ball, committing just 14.47 turnovers per game, on average, to rank third in all of NCAA Division II in fewest miscues per tilt. Saint Anselm has also successfully completed north of 88% of its clears, ranking ninth in the country.
  • Opponents have been limited to just a 73.9% success rate on clears, ranking fourth in the nation and leading the NE10.
  • Saint Anselm has posted 352 points as a team this season, ranking second all-time (241-143=384, 2021) in single-season history. The Hawks have caused 153 turnovers this season, ranking second as well behind the 2010 squad that forced opponents into 170 miscues.
  • The Hawks set a program record with 11 student-athletes named to NE10 All-Conference or All-Rookie teams. Slattery headlined the day, earning NE10 Defensive Player of the Year honors while earning First Team honors.
  • Slattery becomes just the second Saint Anselm student-athlete to be named the NE10's Defensive Player of the Year, joining Kevin DeBenedetto '10 (2010). Slattery began the season as a three-time Preseason All-America pick and is currently tied for fifth in the NE10 with 24 caused turnovers in 15 games, all starts, this season.
  • Joining Slattery on the First Team were Nick Larsen and graduate student Will Palmer (Concord, Mass.). Both are first-time All-Conference selections.
  • Larsen ranks fourth on the team with 40 points (18-22=40), recording a point in all but one game this season while ranking fourth in the NE10 with 1.69 assists per game. One of two short-stick defensive midfield selections on the First Team, Palmer has started a career-high 15 games and has scored five goals and three assists for eight points (5-3=8).
  • Graduate student Sean Tomaszewski (Arlington, Mass.) is pouring home 2.8 goals per game, tying for the lead among NE10 student-athletes and ranking seventh all-time in single-season Saint Anselm history with 42 markers to date. He earned Second Team All-NE10 honors this season.
  • Junior Jack Robinson (Wilbraham, Mass.) leads Saint Anselm (and ranks seventh in NCAA Division II) with 2.5 assists per game, on average. His 2.53 goals per game also ranks within the top 10 in the NE10, trailing the league leader, Kyle Casey from Pace (2.83).
  • Andrews has a 21-game point-scoring streak (47-14=61) that dates back to Apr. 24, 2021 at Southern New Hampshire, scoring 47 goals with 14 helpers in that span.
  • Sophomore Noah Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) has the longest active point-scoring streak on the Hawks roster, logging at least one assist in each of his 26 career games on the Hilltop. He has tucked home 35 career goals with 28 assists for 63 points (35-28=63) points,
  • Netminder CJ Hart (Reading, Mass.) has a 9.46 goals-against average, ranking fourth in the NE10, and his 9.4 saves per game ranks eighth in the league. He owns a .534 save percentage, the seventh-finest figure among NE10 backstops.
  • Hart's 8.12 career goals-against average is the fifth-best rate among active NCAA Division II netminders. In his Saint Anselm career, Hart has registered a .579 save percentage in 45 career games for the Hawks, logging a 27-8 overall record.
  • Hart owns a 27-8 overall record in 45 games for the Hawks, playing just shy of 2,000 career minutes in a five-season career. His 8.20 career goals-against average is the sixth-finest among active NCAA Division II backstops and he was named to the NE10 All-Championship Team in 2021, just days after securing the NE10 Goalkeeper of the Year award and First Team plaudits.
  • Under the leadership of seventh-year Head Coach Michael Sciamanna, the Hawks have posted a 60-31 (.659) overall record since finishing the 2015 campaign with a 2-11 overall record. Since taking over in 2016, Saint Anselm has since made six consecutive NE10 postseason appearances (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022) and, now, the first back-to-back NCAA seasons in program history.

SCOUTING LE MOYNE

  • Le Moyne has won 14 of its 17 games to date, sprinting out to a 9-1 record in the regular season of Northeast-10 Conference play. The Dolphins were in contention for the regular-season title until the last game, falling to Adelphi in the regular-season finale.
  • When playing at home, the Dolphins have racked up a 6-1 record this season. The defeat against Adelphi was the only loss in regulation that Le Moyne has suffered at home since the start of the 2018 season.
  • Le Moyne features one of the stingiest defenses in NCAA Division II, giving up just 7.94 goals per game to date to rank third nationally. The team also owns the nation's fifth-best winning percentage (0.824) while ranking third behind league-leading Saint Anselm in fewest turnovers per game (16.4).
  • The Dolphins feature the NE10 Goalkeeper of the Year, Frank Delia, on the roster. He has compiled a 14-3 record in net for Le Moyne, posting a .588 save percentage alongside a 7.52 goals-against average – he has, however, lost two of his last three starts (both losses against Adelphi) while making 13 stops against Saint Anselm in the NE10 Semifinals.
  • Zach Pierce has scored 29 goals with 24 assists for 53 points (29-24=53) after logging just nine goals and 10 assists in 2021. He has exploded for career-high marks in goal scoring and assists while playing in all 17 games, one of just six student-athletes on the roster to have started in each of those tilts.
  • Carter Collins has started and played in all 17 games for Le Moyne, scoring 34 goals with 18 assists for 52 points (34-18=52). The transfer from Lindenwood was a USILA All-America selection who earned Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year.
  • Sam Kury leads the way with a .624 face-off winning percentage for the Dolphins, ranking 12th nationally and fourth in the NE10. After winning seven of 10 draws against the Hawks in the NE10 postseason matchup, he yielded to Nico Mattia who won 14-of-20 face-offs in the game.
  • Devin Andrews has an eight-game point scoring streak for Le Moyne, striking for 14 goals with eight assists for 22 points (14-8=22) in that span. He has scored 24 goals with 12 assists for 37 points (24-12=37) on the season.
  • Le Moyne is the winningest program in NCAA Division II history, owning an .831 winning percentage (354-72) entering this season. Adelphi, another strong program from the NE10, has the most overall victories (564) among those presently competing in the division.

ALL-TIME vs. LE MOYNE

  • The Dolphins hold a distinct edge in the all-time series between both teams. Le Moyne has won 29 of the 30 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 won the first 24 games from Apr. 27, 1997 through Mar. 31, 2018 before the historic win for the Hawks. Since then, the Dolphins have won five in a row over Saint Anselm.

ALL-TIME, NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP

  • Le Moyne has won five national championships, winning in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2016, and, most recently, in 2021 with a perfect 15-0 record on the year. The Dolphins were the national runner-up in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2015.
  • The Dolphins own a 20-12 (.625) all-time record in the NCAA Championship and have now qualified for 19 NCAA postseasons since the 2002 season.
  • Saint Anselm had never made an appearance in the NCAA Division II postseason prior to the 2021 season. The Hawks own a 1-1 record with its one loss coming to Le Moyne last season.
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