MANCHESTER, N.H. – The nationally-ranked No. 7 Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team saw its seven-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday afternoon against nationally-regarded Saint Michael's College, 15-13. In a special postgame ceremony, 16 student-athletes were honored as part of Senior Day.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm is back on the road this weekend for a nationally-ranked matchup against No. 4 Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y. at 3:00 p.m. The winner of that game will be the first place team in the Northeast-10 Conference standings.
Score: No. 7 Saint Anselm 13, RV Saint Michael's 15
Records: No. 7 Saint Anselm 8-2 (6-1 NE10), RV Saint Michael's 7-4 (4-3 NE10)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Grappone Stadium)
Date: Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Attendance: 267
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- After forcing a Saint Anselm turnover, Saint Michael's deposited the game's opening goal less than two minutes in. Alex Chirgwin found Sean Murphy to give the Purple Knights the early advantage.
- At the 11:10 mark of the first quarter, junior Will Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.) checked in off the sideline and ran across the face of goal. The Hawks midfielder bounced a shot that picked the top left corner to tie it up.
- Saint Michael's then rattled off five consecutive goals to jump out to a commanding 6-1 lead. Chirgwin scored his first followed by Murphy's second tally 48 seconds later to make it 3-1.
- After that, Chirgwin added his second at the 7:05 mark of the first. Sebastian Simonson then got into the scoring column after working a pick and roll to perfection with Cristian Reyes.
- With 3:21 left in the first, Ethan Hughes ripped a deep sidearm shot that went top shelf at the expiration of the shot clock, giving the Purple Knights a five-goal lead which they took into the second period. Saint Anselm fifth-year goaltender Will Davis (Franklin, Mass.) made a huge stop at the end of the first to keep the margin respectable.
- Saint Anselm started the second quarter well, scoring two unanswered goals. Sophomore Chris Claflin (Newton, Mass.) got past a defender and ran down the left alley. He took a left-handed shot while falling that beat the goalie high. Claflin then made a pass through the defense two minutes later that found senior Jake Davis (Franklin, Mass.), who jumped to his right and fired into the top left corner to make it 6-3.
- Saint Michael's responded after taking a timeout with a goal by Owen Balfour, assisted by Reyes, to put the visitors back up by four.
- The Hawks provided an immediate answer with a goal 17 seconds later. After getting possession due to a faceoff violation by the Purple Knights, junior Joe Lombardi (Holliston, Mass.) tossed it ahead to Will Andrews, who sniped one top shelf.
- Lombardi then tucked a shot inside the left post to make it 7-5, and Will Andrews completed his hat trick 28 seconds after that on a similar looking shot to make it a one score game and cap off a 1:03 span with three scores for the Hawks.
- Reyes got one back for Saint Michael's off a feed from Lochlan Sheridan to put them back in front by a pair, but Saint Anselm then scored two straight to tie the score with 4:13 left in the half. Fifth-year Jack Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.) found an opening down the right side and bounced a shot into the back of the cage, and less than a minute later, Jake Davis found junior Colin Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) for an easy catch and finish at the top of the crease, making it 8-8.
- On the last possession of the first half for the Hawks, Jake Davis found senior Noah Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) up top. Larsen's shot ripped the twine just before the shot clock expired, giving Saint Anselm a 9-8 lead at halftime.
- Claflin opened the second half with his second tally of the afternoon to give Saint Anselm their first two-goal edge at the 13:57 mark of the third.
- Each team's defense started to make their presence felt from that point on with no goals scored over the next 11 minutes. The Hawks defense caused three turnovers during the third.
- Lombardi ended the scoring drought with 2:51 left in the quarter to give Saint Anselm their largest lead of the game at 11-8. However, Saint Michael's scored three unanswered in the final two minutes of the quarter to tie up the score heading into the fourth. Reyes scored twice from close range in a 27 second span for the Purple Knights before Murphy tied it up at 11-11 with his third marker of the game.
- At the 12:15 mark of the fourth quarter, Mulvey wrapped around the cage and slung a shot into the top right corner, giving Saint Anselm back a one-goal advantage. Jake Davis made it 13-11 with 10:31 to go, driving through the middle of the defense and finishing off his second of the game.
- Saint Michael's got a goal back just 22 seconds after that as Nathan Woods got double-teamed, but managed to flip a one-handed pass ahead to Simonson, who scored from point-blank range to make it 13-12, Saint Anselm.
- The Purple Knights got possession right back after forcing a Hawks turnover and out of a timeout, Simonson secured his hat trick off a feed from Reyes to tie the score, 13-13, with just over five and a half minutes left.
- With 1:58 remaining, senior Nick Larsen (Northborough, Mass.) had a shot denied by Saint Michael's goaltender Sean Regan. The Purple Knights took it all the way down to the other end and Murphy scored the go-ahead goal to make it 14-13 with 1:02 on the clock. Chirgwin added an empty net goal with 31 seconds left and Saint Michael's picked up the road victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm held a 48-31 advantage in shot attempts and a 26-23 edge in shots on goal.
- Faceoffs were deadlocked at 16 wins apiece. The Hawks scooped up 26 ground balls in the game, while the Purple Knights had 23.
- Saint Anselm had 13 turnovers compared to 12 committed by Saint Michael's. The Hawks caused 10 turnovers while the Purple Knights caused nine.
- The home team went 1-for-1 on extra man opportunities. The visitors went 0-for-2.
- Will Andrews led Saint Anselm with three goals, all in the first half, while Claflin, Jake Davis, Lombardi, and Mulvey scored two goals apiece. Sophomore Quinn Gannon (Scituate, Mass.) and freshman Evan Spillane (East Longmeadow, Mass.) led the squad with four ground ball pickups each.
- Murphy led Saint Michael's with four goals, while Chirgwin, Reyes, and Simonson each had three scores for the Purple Knights.
- These two teams have played 27 games in the all-time series dating back to 2002. Saint Anselm falls to 15-12 overall against Saint Michael's. The loss snaps a seven game win streak for the Hawks against the Purple Knights.
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