MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team made program history last weekend by clinching their first-ever outright Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) Regular Season Championship. The Hawks, ranked #3 in the nation according to the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) national poll, accomplished the feat after defeating #8 Pace on the road last Saturday to cap off their NE10 schedule with a perfect 8-0 record.
Saint Anselm not only finished its NE10 slate of games undefeated; they also went unbeaten during the entire regular season, finishing 11-0 overall with wins over five nationally ranked opponents. It was just the second undefeated regular season in program history.
The Hawks were also unbeaten with a 10-0 record during the 2021 campaign, but shared the NE10 regular season title that year with former conference member Le Moyne. That season, however, Saint Anselm did not have Le Moyne, Adelphi, and Pace – notorious NE10 men's lacrosse powers – on the schedule due to travel restrictions coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, making this season all the more impressive.
This spring under first-year head coach
Drew Bourdeau '18, the Hawks left no doubt by beating everyone in their path. They defeated Bentley twice (ranked #10 and #11), #14 Mercy, and #8 Pace, but the highlight of the regular season came on April 5th against #2 Adelphi. The Hawks entered the game 0-19 all-time against the Panthers, including three heartbreaking losses last year (regular season, NE10 Championship, NCAA Semifinal), but shocked the nation with a 9-6 upset win. Not only did it mark the first-ever victory for Saint Anselm over Adelphi, the reigning NCAA Division II National Champions, but it also snapped the Panthers' 25-game winning streak and was their lowest-scoring game since February of 2024.
In 2025, the Hawks have been a well-balanced machine with multiple players from different classes stepping up. Six different student-athletes have 10 or more goals, and eight have at least 14 points. Out of all NE10 teams, Saint Anselm scores the third-most goals per game and has turned the ball over the fewest. Defensively, the Hawks have conceded the second-fewest goals in the conference and are extremely disciplined as well, taking the fewest amount of penalties on the year (22 – 13 fewer than the next closest team).
Offensively, freshman
Matt Lemay (Westminster, Mass.) has been a key contributor, leading the team with 28 goals and 38 points – both figures rank in the top 12 in the NE10. Senior captain
Colin Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) has also had an excellent season thus far and is second on the squad with 24 goals. It is his second consecutive season with at least 20 markers. The playmaking ability of junior
Chris Claflin (Newton, Mass.) has been on full display as well. The midfielder leads the team with 26 assists, the fourth-highest total in the league, to go along with his 11 goals.
At the other end, sophomore goaltender
Finn Granara (Reading, Mass.) has been superb. In his first full season as a starter, he has a 10-0 record and a .661 goals against average, the second-best figure in the NE10. He has allowed the fewest goals out of any goalie in the league that has played at least 400 minutes, and also boasts the third-best save percentage in the conference at .606.
As a result of concluding the regular season undefeated and with the best record in the conference, Saint Anselm has earned the #1 seed and an opening round bye in the upcoming NE10 Men's Lacrosse Championship. The Hawks will host the winner of #4 seed Assumption and #5 seed Bentley in the NE10 Semifinals on Wednesday, April 30th, at 7:00 p.m. from Grappone Stadium.
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