PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team advanced to the Northeast-10 Conference Semifinals with a 15-12 win over Pace University in the First Round on Saturday.

With the win, the Hawks, who are ranked No. 15 in the most recent United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Division II National Poll, improve to 9-3 on the season while the Setters, who are No. 11 in the same poll, drop to 11-4 overall.

The fifth-ranked Hawks will head to top-seeded Le Moyne College for a semifinal round matchup on Wednesday, May 3. The contest from Syracuse, N.Y. is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start.

Senior Jack Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.) matched a game-high four goals for the Hawks while sophomore Colin Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) and freshman Chris Claflin (Newton, Mass.) netted two goals each. Mulvey added an assist for three points while senior Jack Robinson (Wilbraham, Mass.) and sophomore Will Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.) matched Mulvey's three points with one goal and two assists each.

Junior Anthony Kubik (Chicago, Ill.) collected his first win in a Hawks uniform from the cage. Kubik made four saves on four shots on goal in the second half, coming on in relief of starting goalkeeper senior David Olsen (Salem, N.H.).

Pace jumped out to an early 2-0 lead just 3:41 into play as Anthony Caputo and Jake Veres combined for one goal apiece.

Junior Noah Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) got the Hawks on the scoreboard with 9:21 left in the first quarter but that was answered by Daniel Zabbia at 6:16. Junior Nick Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) and Mulvey netted back-to-back goals to tie the score at three but a pair of scores for the Setters in the final 2:23 of the opening quarter gave the hosts a 5-3 lead through the first frame.

The Hawks used a four-goal run, all coming in the first six minutes of the second quarter to take a 7-5 lead. Claflin, Jack Andrews, freshman Charlie Dean (North Andover, Mass.), and Mulvey contributed with goals on that scoring stretch.

The teams traded scores throughout the remainder of the second quarter before Zabbia concluded the scoring with 1:35 left in the first half, sending the squads to the half with Hawks in front, 9-8.

Caputo tied the contest with the first goal of the second half which was answered by Robinson to regain the Hawks lead. However, Caputo and Marcus Ottavino scored consecutive goals for Pace to give them an 11-10 lead with 4:21 left in the third.

Saint Anselm closed the quarter with one goal each from Will Andrews and Jack Andrews and opened the fourth with three goals, extending the scoring run to five and pushing the Hawks in front by a 15-11 score. With 4:51 left in regulation, Caputo found the back of the cage to make the score 15-12.

The Hawks managed to close out the remaining time to advance to the Semifinal Round of the NE10 postseason tournament.

Saint Anselm held a 39-35 edge in shot attempts including a 26-17 advantage in shots on goal. The Hawks collected 36 ground balls and won 19 faceoffs compared to 27 and 11 for the Setters in those categories.

Freshman Quinn Gannon (Scituate, Mass.) won 12-of-13 faceoffs for the Hawks and scooped up a team-high five ground balls. Junior Henry Alford (Southborough, Mass.) was credited with a career-high four caused turnovers.