MANCHESTER, N.H. – The nationally ranked #8 Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team kept its undefeated start to the season intact with an 18-14 non-conference win over #14 Mercy on Saturday afternoon. Four student-athletes finished with three or more goals in the win for the Hawks, who scored 12 of their season-high 18 goals in the second half. Senior
Colin Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) matched his career-high with five goals, while junior
Chris Claflin (Newton, Mass.) set a new career-best with seven points on three goals and four assists.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm is on the road to take on #11 Bentley in their Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) opener on Tuesday, March 18th at 7:00 p.m. in Waltham, Mass.
Score: #8 Saint Anselm 18, #14 Mercy 14
Records: #8 Saint Anselm (3-0), #14 Mercy (3-3)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Grappone Stadium)
Date: Saturday, March 15, 2025
Attendance: 310
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Saint Anselm got out to a fast start with three goals in the first six minutes of action. Claflin, junior Maverick Lyon (Albany, Ore.), and freshman Matt Lemay (Westminster, Mass.) each scored to give the Hawks an early 3-0 lead.
- Jimmy Osorio got Mercy on the board with his first goal of the afternoon, but sophomore Mark Boyle (Reading, Mass.) responded for Saint Anselm late in the first quarter. His shot from straight away beat the goaltender high and to the weak side, which made it a 4-1 game.
- Midway through the second quarter, Boyle picked out the top right corner while on the run for his second score of the day for the Hawks.
- Osorio then rattled off three straight goals for the Mavericks within a three-minute span that trimmed the deficit down to 5-4.
- Both teams went on to score one more time before the end of the first half. After some good ball movement, Boyle completed his hat trick off a feed from Claflin, and then Aidan Babnik found the back of the net for Mercy as the half ended with Saint Anselm in front, 6-5.
- The pace began to pick up in the second half as the two teams combined for 13 goals in a high-scoring third quarter. Less than a minute into the half, Babnik potted his second of the game for the Mavericks to tie the score at 6-6.
- The Hawks were held scoreless until four minutes had gone by in the third, but then scored four unanswered goals to regain the lead, 10-6. Claflin and Mulvey each scored twice for the home team inside of four minutes, with both of Mulvey's tallies coming on bounce shots.
- The scoring continued as the two sides recorded four goals apiece in the final few minutes of the third. Mulvey added two more easy goals from the top of the crease, while Lemay and Lyon each produced their second goals of the afternoon with Lyon's coming on a behind-the-back finish.
- Four different players scored the next four goals for Mercy with two coming in the last two minutes of the third, but they still trailed, 14-10.
- Saint Anselm answered with two goals early in the fourth quarter to extend their lead back up to six goals. Senior Joe Lombardi (Holliston, Mass.) found the back of the net from deep, and Lemay followed that up with his third of the game with a rip from more than 15 yards out.
- Mercy refused to go away as Osorio and Duchnowski each scored at the other end to trim the margin back down to four goals with eight minutes remaining.
- Late in the quarter, Lemay and Mulvey added insurance goals for the Hawks, which extended their lead to 18-12 with 2:23 to go.
- Osorio and Duchnowski added one more goal each for the Mavericks in the final two minutes, but the Hawks were able to run out the rest of the clock to secure the victory by a final score of 18-14.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Scoring chances were very even as Mercy held a 46-44 advantage in total shots, while Saint Anselm had a 27-26 edge in shots on goal. The Hawks recorded 17 of their 27 shots on goal in the second half.
- The Hawks controlled the center circle with a 22-14 lead at the faceoff X. Sophomore Evan Spillane (East Longmeadow, Mass.) led Saint Anselm by going 11-19 (57.9%) on faceoffs, while junior Quinn Gannon (Scituate, Mass.) went 10-14 (71.4%).
- Mercy won the ground ball battle, 34-31. Owen Stephenson led the Mavericks with five ground balls, while Spillane led the Hawks with a game-high and career-high six ground balls.
- Saint Anselm committed 15 turnovers in the game, while Mercy had 13 giveaways. Both defenses caused eight turnovers, and junior Tyler Vigeant (Worcester, Mass.) led the Hawks with two.
- The two teams had similar success rates on clear attempts. Mercy went 15-19 (78.9 percent), while Saint Anselm went 14-18 (77.8 percent).
- The game featured eight penalties with both teams earning four. Saint Anselm and Mercy each scored two man-up goals, while the Mavericks also added a man-down goal.
- Mulvey matched his career-high with five goals to lead the Hawks in scoring with his first multi-goal game of the season. He scored all of his goals in the second half, with four coming in the third quarter.
- Claflin set a new career-high with seven points coming from three goals and a career-best four assists. Boyle recorded his first collegiate hat trick with three goals, while Lemay also set a new career-high with four goals and five points. Six players scored and 11 players finished with at least one point for the Hawks in the win.
- Osorio led Mercy with a game-high six goals. Babnik scored three times, while Duchnowski scored twice for the Mavericks.
- Sophomore goaltender Finn Granara (Reading, Mass.) made a season-high 12 saves in his seventh career win between the pipes for the Hawks.
- Cameron Dorfman made six saves and allowed 17 goals in the loss for the Mavericks. He was replaced by Peter Murphy, who made three saves and allowed one goal in just over 10 minutes of action.
- This marked the eighth all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm improves to 3-5 overall against Mercy in the series that began in 2010. The Hawks are unbeaten in their last three meetings with the Mavericks, with a win in each of the last three seasons including two in the last two NCAA tournaments.
STAY CONNECTED:
