MANCHESTER, N.H. – Program history was made on Saturday afternoon as the nationally ranked #5 Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team took down #2 Adelphi, the defending NCAA Division II National Champions, for the first time ever. Junior
Chris Claflin (Newton, Mass.) scored one goal and added a career-high five assists in the 9-6 victory for the Hawks, who remain undefeated at 8-0 overall and 5-0 in Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) play. The Panthers saw their 25-game winning streak come to an end with the loss.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm is back home for another NE10 matchup against American International on Wednesday, April 9th at 4:00 p.m. from Grappone Stadium.
Score: #5 Saint Anselm 9, #2 Adelphi 6
Records: #5 Saint Anselm (8-0, 5-0 NE10), #2 Adelphi (10-1, 4-1 NE10)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Grappone Stadium)
Date: Saturday, April 5, 2025
Attendance: 275
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Saint Anselm jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after scoring three goals in the first eight minutes. Senior Colin Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) and freshmen Matt Lemay (Westminster, Mass.) and Eddie O'Brien (Franklin, Mass.) each scored, and Claflin picked up two assists, to put the Hawks in front.
- Adelphi goalie Dylan Renner started to step his game up in the second quarter, making five saves to keep the Panthers within striking distance.
- However, the Hawks were able to add one more goal with less than two minutes left in the first half. Claflin set up Lemay for his second goal as Saint Anselm took a 4-0 lead at halftime.
- Sophomore goaltender Finn Granara (Reading, Mass.) made four saves for the Hawks and kept the Panthers scoreless for the first 30 minutes of action.
- Adelphi woke up in the third quarter and scored three unanswered goals to cut the deficit to 4-3. Braden Donnellan opened the scoring for the Panthers just over five minutes into the period. Two minutes later, Noah Gibson found the back of the net before Donnellan added his second to make it a one-goal game.
- Saint Anselm responded in a huge way as Claflin set up Mulvey for the shot and score to give the Hawks a two-goal edge. Claflin added a goal of his own not long after as the Hawks increased their lead to 6-3.
- Before the end of the third quarter, Vincent McDermott cut the deficit back down to two for Adelphi with a goal that made it 6-4. In the final 90 seconds of the period, Ryan Bauco saw two shots ring off the pipe as the Panthers still trailed by a pair entering the fourth.
- Three minutes into the final quarter, Adelphi had a player sent off for slashing, giving Saint Anselm an extra man opportunity. The Hawks capitalized on the man advantage with Claflin setting up senior Will Andrews (Cumberland, R.I.) for the man-up goal as they extended their lead to 7-4.
- Bauco got one back for the Panthers not long after to cut the deficit back down to two goals, but senior Joe Lombardi (Holliston, Mass.) answered less than a minute after to put the Hawks back in front by three.
- With under eight minutes remaining, Donnellan found Kyle Lewis for a goal that made it 8-6 and gave Adelphi some momentum. The Panthers won the ensuing faceoff and had two golden opportunities to make it a one-goal game, but Granara made two huge stops to deny Lewis and Danny Fisenne just outside the crease to keep the Hawks ahead by two.
- At the other end with 3:44 to play, sophomore Mark Boyle (Reading, Mass.) caught a pass from Andrews and finished to give Saint Anselm an insurance goal that made it 9-6.
- Granara made two more saves in the final minutes and Saint Anselm went on to win their first ever game against Adelphi. It was the lowest scoring game for the Panthers since February of last season.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm held slight leads in total shots, 37-33, and shots on goal, 21-19,
- The battle at the faceoff X was even as both teams came away with nine faceoff wins. Junior Quinn Gannon (Scituate, Mass.) went 8-16 (50%) on faceoffs to lead the Hawks.
- Adelphi maintained a slight lead in ground balls, 33-29. Freshman Johnny Lucas (Peabody, Mass.) scooped up five ground balls to lead Saint Anselm.
- The Panthers committed 20 turnovers in the game compared to 18 committed by the Hawks.
- Defensively, the Panthers defense caused seven of those turnovers, while the Hawks defense caused six giveaways. Lucas and sophomore Jake Klepacki (East Longmeadow, Mass.) both recorded two caused turnovers apiece for the Hawks.
- On clear attempts, Saint Anselm went 21-26 (80.8%) and Adelphi went 23-27 (85.2%).
- There was just one penalty called in the contest, a slashing foul called against the Panthers in the fourth quarter. The Hawks capitalized on the lone extra man opportunity of the game with a player-up goal.
- Claflin had a huge performance for Saint Anselm, scoring one goal and dishing out a career-best five assists for a game-high six points. He has recorded at least one assist in every game this season, has five games with multiple assists, leads the team and is fourth in the NE10 with 18 helpers, and leads the squad with 27 points.
- Lemay and Mulvey scored two goals apiece for the Hawks. Mulvey scored for the fourth straight game, and Lemay recorded his seventh straight multi-goal performance. Lemay leads the team with 18 goals this season, while Mulvey is second with 14.
- Donnellan (two goals, one assist) and Lewis (one goal, two assists) each finished with three points to lead Adelphi.
- Granara had a monster game in the cage for the Hawks. He made 13 saves and posted a .684 save percentage in his 12th career win between the pipes.
- Renner made 12 saves and allowed all nine goals in the loss for the Panthers.
- This marked the 20th all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm earned their first ever win against Adelphi in the series that began in 2008.
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