MANCHESTER, N.H. – The No. 1 seed Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team suffered a heartbreaking 13-12 loss in overtime of the Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) Championship Game to No. 2 seed Adelphi on Saturday afternoon. Senior
Colin Mulvey (Reading, Mass.) scored four goals and freshman
Matt Lemay (Westminster, Mass.) added three goals for the Hawks in the loss.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm now awaits the NCAA Division II Selection Show, scheduled for Sunday, May 4th at 7:30 p.m., to see if they will clinch an at-large bid to the NCAA postseason. It would be the fifth straight NCAA tournament berth for the Hawks.
Score: #4 Saint Anselm 12, #4 Adelphi 13 (OT)
Records: #4 Saint Anselm (12-1), #4 Adelphi (15-1)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Grappone Stadium)
Date: Saturday, May 3, 2025
Attendance: 812
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Saint Anselm started out hot, scoring three times inside the opening three minutes. Mulvey got the scoring started on the Hawks' opening possession, and after winning the ensuing faceoff, junior long pole Tyler Vigeant (Worcester, Mass.) raced down to the offensive end and scored his first career goal. Lemay sent one into the back of the net a minute later, giving the Hawks a commanding 3-0 lead.
- After both goalies made a save, Adelphi managed to gain possession and successfully clear. That allowed them to set up their offense at the other end, leading to their first goal of the day scored by Braden Donnellan.
- Not long after that, the Panthers tied the score at 3-3 as Michael Durnin finished two goals, both of which were assisted by Kyle Lewis.
- With five minutes left in the opening quarter, Lewis got in on the scoring with a quick turnaround shot, giving Adelphi their first lead of the afternoon.
- Saint Anselm responded a couple minutes later. Junior Maverick Lyon (Albany, Ore.) drew a double team and kicked it out to senior Joe Lombardi (Holliston, Mass.), who found the back of the net to make it 4-4.
- The Panthers regained the lead with 13 seconds left in the period as Noah Gibson set up Ryan Bauco with a quick pass across the face of goal. Bauco's finish made it a 5-4 game entering the second quarter.
- The first three possessions of the second were all turnovers by the two teams. Bauco settled things down offensively, scoring his second goal to put the visitors up by two.
- Seven seconds after conceding, junior Quinn Gannon (Scitutate, Mass.) won the ensuing faceoff for the Hawks. He scooped up the ground ball and took off down the field, where he eventually drew a defender and dished to Lemay for a deep rip that made it 6-5.
- After a couple saves by Adelphi netminder Dylan Renner, Saint Anselm broke through once again to tie things up at 6-6. Mulvey potted his second of the afternoon to even the score.
- Moments later, the Panthers forced a failed clear and a turnover by the Hawks. They capitalized on that miscue as Vincent McDermott put Adelphi back on top, 7-6.
- Saint Anselm answered with a stop of their own at the defensive end. They called timeout and drew up a nice play for their offense as junior Charlie Dean (North Andover, Mass.) dished to Mulvey for his third goal of the game that tied it up at 7-7.
- Adelphi had the last act of the first half. They scored with just 18 seconds left as Donnellan linked up with Durnin, who tucked in his third goal as the Panthers led at halftime, 8-7.
- The Panthers were assessed a one-minute penalty for cross-checking early in the third quarter. Lemay punished them for that error as he caught a pass at the top and rifled one home, making it 8-8.
- The Hawks had a chance to take the lead, but saw three shots go wide as the game remained tied. At the other end, Gibson saw a shot hit the post for the Panthers, but he eventually scored later in the possession to put his team ahead, 9-8.
- The Durnin and Donnellan combination continued to work wonders for Adelphi as Durnin notched his fourth goal of the contest off a feed from Donnellan, making it a two-goal game with 5:50 left in the third.
- Just over a minute later, Mulvey quickly countered with his third goal, this time with Lombardi setting it up. After a few possessions, Saint Anselm's defense caused another turnover and cleared it to the other end. There, Claflin made a perfect cross-field pass to sophomore Mark Boyle (Reading, Mass.), who crept to the top of the crease and scored to tie it at 10-10.
- Late in the third quarter, both teams had shots hit the cross-bar. Donnellan and Lewis drew iron for Adelphi, while Lemay rang his shot off the pipe for Saint Anselm. Each goalie made one save apiece during that span as well and the game stayed knotted up entering the fourth.
- The Panthers created some separation with a pair of scores in the opening 4:15 of the final quarter of regulation. Gibson dropped in the go-ahead goal before Durnin put the visitors up by two with his fifth tally of the afternoon.
- The Hawks got some timely stops on the defensive end over the next few possessions to keep themselves close. With 2:55 left, Lombardi gave the Hawks life after ripping one top shelf to make it 12-11.
- Adelphi got the ball back with two minutes left, but Saint Anselm forced them into a shot clock violation to set themselves up with one last chance to tie the score in the final 30 seconds. With five seconds left, Mulvey sent a desperation shot towards goal. The ball miraculously found the stick of Claflin at the top of the crease, and he caught it and finished with two seconds remaining to tie the score at 12-12, which forced overtime.
- Gannon won the opening faceoff of the overtime period for the Hawks, who called timeout after getting a touch in the offensive zone. However, they were unable to score as Lemay's shot was corralled by Renner.
- Ries Bower sprinted upfield to clear it for the Panthers and was quickly double teamed. He fell to the ground, but was somehow able to toss a pass ahead to Durnin, who caught it off the bounce and scored the game-winning goal to make Adelphi back-to-back NE10 Champions.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm held a 48-37 lead in total shots in addition to a 23-18 edge in shots on goal.
- The Hawks also dominated in the center circle, winning 22-29 (75.9%) at the faceoff X. Gannon led them with a game-high and career-high 20 faceoff wins out of 27 attempts (74.1%).
- Ground balls went Saint Anselm's way as well. They maintained a sizeable 37-21 advantage in that area. Gannon grabbed a game-high 11 ground balls and was one of 10 Hawks to pick up at least two.
- The Hawks committed 18 turnovers in the game compared to 16 committed by the Panthers.
- Defensively, the Panthers defense caused 12 of those turnovers, while the Hawks defense caused nine giveaways. Eight different players logged a caused turnover for the home team.
- On clear attempts, Saint Anselm went 15-17 (88.2%) and Adelphi went 18/22 (81.8%).
- There was only one penalty in the contest, which was called on the Panthers for slashing during the third quarter. The Hawks scored during that man-up opportunity.
- Mulvey led Saint Anselm with four goals and an assist for five points. He has recorded seven straight multi-goal games and is second on the team with 30 goals this year, tied for 11th in the NE10.
- Lemay finished with three goals for the Hawks, good for his 12th straight multi goal game and seventh hat trick of the season. He leads the team and is tied for seventh in the conference with 33 goals this spring.
- Claflin and Lombardi each had three-point performances for Saint Anselm.
- Durnin exploded for a six-goal performance for Adelphi. Bauco and Gibson each scored twice for the Panthers, while Donnellan and Lewis each had a goal and three assists.
- Sophomore goaltender Finn Granara (Reading, Mass.) made five saves for the Hawks in the loss.
- Renner made 11 saves and allowed 12 goals to earn the win in the cage for the Panthers.
- Mulvey and junior Colby Goodchild (Reading, Mass.) represented Saint Anselm on the NE10 Men's Lacrosse All-Championship Team, while Bower, Durnin, and Lewis received that honor for Adelphi.
- Lewis was named the NE10 Championship's Most Outstanding Player, while Durnin took home the NE10's Elite 24 Award, which is given to the student-athlete with the highest grade-point average at the Championship site.
- This marked the 21st all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm falls to 1-20 against Adelphi overall. The Panthers won their second straight NE10 Championship over the Hawks.
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