SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team built a halftime lead at Le Moyne on Wednesday in the Northeast-10 Conference Semifinals, ultimately falling to the Dolphins by a 15-11 margin at Ted Grant Field.
Saint Anselm, the third seed in the NE10 postseason, drops to 10-5 overall on the year. In search of the team's second consecutive NCAA postseason bid, the Hawks turn their attention to the Division II Selection Show, set to air Sunday, May 8th at 7:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
The reigning NCAA Division II national champions from Le Moyne (14-2) 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 score tied at one, Andrews scored back-to-back goals for the Hawks before Ackil's 10th goal of the season created a 4-1 lead for Saint Anselm with 2:16 left in the first quarter. Despite back-to-back goals from Le Moyne, Nick Larsen and Lombardi recreated the three-goal bulge, 6-3, with 9:31 left in the opening half. Andrews finished the game with 46 points this season (38-8=46), setting a single-season personal high.
Le Moyne scored six of the game's next seven goals, stunning Saint Anselm by coming all the way back to take a 9-7 lead with 12:12 left in the third quarter. Mulvey scored the next two goals for Saint Anselm before Noah Larsen, set up by his brother, tied the game at 10 with 8:30 left in regulation time.
With the score even at 10, 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.
The Hawks quickly got a goal back, thanks to Noah Larsen's 16th of the year with 5:17 to go, but it was all Dolphins to close out the game. Le Moyne scored three straight goals to end regulation, putting an exclamation point on what proved to be a come-from-behind postseason victory.
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.
Le Moyne won 21 of the game's 30 face-offs and held the slight edge in shot attempts, 42-to-40. Saint Anselm did place 24 shots on goal while the Dolphins were limited to just 19 chances on net.
