MANCHESTER, N.H. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team opened its season on Wednesday with a 16-8 victory over the visiting College of Saint Rose at Grappone Stadium.
Ranked No. 9 in the nation by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, Saint Anselm improves to 1-0 on the season, doing so for the fourth consecutive season. The Hawks also improve to 1-0 in the Northeast-10 Conference while Saint Rose drops to 0-4 (0-1 NE10) on the young campaign.
Senior Jack Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.) scored four goals with an assist for five points, eclipsing 100 career points in a Saint Anselm uniform. Juniors Nick Larsen and Noah Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) each posted totals of one goal and three assists for four points (1-3=4) on the way to victory.
Andrews becomes the 22nd student-athlete in team history to reach 100 career points, having scored 82 career goals with 20 assists for 102 (82-20=102) across a 35-game career at Saint Anselm. Senior Jack Robinson (Wilbraham, Mass.), whose highlight-reel goal opened the season, sits at 98 career points (43-55=98).
In his first collegiate start between the pipes, senior David Olsen (Salem, N.H.) made eight saves on 13 shots before yielding to classmate Will Davis (Franklin, Mass.). Olsen picked up his first collegiate victory with the result.
The Hawks out-shot Saint Rose by a 17-2 margin in the opening 15 minutes, building a 7-1 advantage after two goals from Andrews and two points from Robinson. Sophomore Colin Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) also scored twice for the Hawks in a dominant first stanza.
Saint Anselm fired off each of the six goals of the second period, opening up a commanding 13-1 advantage at the break. The Hawks fired 33 shot attempts, keeping the Golden Knights to just nine attempts in the first 30 minutes of game play.
The Golden Knights scored seven of the game's final 10 goals, producing a strong second half of play, but the slow start for the visitors eliminated the chance of a comeback. In total, nine goal scorers and 11 point-getters powered Saint Anselm past Saint Rose in the game.
Freshman Quinn Gannon (Scituate, Mass.), sophomore Will Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.) and senior Ethan Dolan (Littleton, Mass.) added their first career goals in the victory. Sophomore Joe Lombardi (Holliston, Mass.) posted a goal for the Hawks and senior Will Harvey (Franklin, Mass.) locked down an assist for Saint Anselm in the contest.
Gannon was a force for Saint Anselm at the face-off dot, winning 15-of-26 draws in his collegiate debut. Junior Jonathan Holland (Derry, N.H.) caused a team-best three turnovers for the Hawks on defense.
Saint Anselm hosts Bentley on Saturday, Mar. 11 in non-league play at 1 p.m.
