MANCHESTER, N.H. – Using a run of seven consecutive goals to close out the contest, the No. 3 Saint Anselm College men's lacrosse team erased a five-goal deficit to defeat No. 9 Pace University, 14-12, on Saturday evening at Grappone Stadium.

The Hawks capped off the regular season with an 11-1 overall record. The team's NE10 mark of 7-1 secured the No. 2 seed into the upcoming NE10 Championship, in which Saint Anselm received a bye to the semifinal round on Wednesday, April 29.

This marks the 10th consecutive appearance in the NE10 postseason for the Hawks, and the second under the direction of head coach Drew Bourdeau '18.

Highlights

• Senior Quinn Gannon broke the program's all-time record for most ground balls in a career, securing five pickups in the victory as he went 14-for-27 (51.9%) on faceoffs. He now sits at 338 career ground balls, passing Craig Yannone '24, who recorded 335 in his career.
• Sophomore Matt Lemay paced the offense with five goals. He tacked on three ground balls.
• Senior Charlie Dean notched four points behind a three-assist effort.
• Sophomore Ben Turpin delivered a two-goal, one-assist performance with two caused turnovers to his credit.
• Freshman Nick Burns posted one goal and one assist with one ground ball.
• Junior Mark Boyle turned in a two-goal performance while also securing four ground balls.
• Senior Brendan Crowley, Evan Spillane, and sophomore Eddie O'Brien each pitched in one goal. Spillane's marked the first of the season for the junior.
• Juniors Thomas Driscoll and Ryan Weller chipped in one assist each.
• Freshman Dylan Bankowski turned in a team-high six ground balls and three caused turnovers.
• Senior Brady Martin logged three ground balls and caused a pair of turnovers.
• Sophomore Max Fowler recorded pairs of ground balls and caused turnovers.
• Senior Tyler Vigeant, sophomore Johnny Lucas, and Driscoll all posted two-ground ball, one-caused turnover efforts as Spillane and O'Brien also added a pair of ground balls each.
• Junior goalkeeper Finn Granara notched 15 saves in the victory, a season-high. He made 15 stops to blank the Setters in the fourth quarter.
• The Hawks went 20-for-22 (90.9%) on clearing attempts and went 1-for-2 (50.0%) on man-up opportunities while blanking Pace on both of its man-advantages.
• Saint Anselm is now 15-17 all-time against the Setters in a series that dates back to the 1998 campaign. The Hawks have won five consecutive matchups against Pace, including three on home turf.

How it Happened

Following two early saves by Granara to keep Pace off the board, Boyle and Turpin got the scoring underway as the Hawks took a 2-0 lead just 5:50 into the opening frame.

The Setters responded with a pair of goals to tie the contest before the Hawks closed the quarter with three consecutive goals, including two from Lemay to secure the hat trick and one from Spillane off a faceoff win, to make it 5-2 in favor of the hosts after one.

Back-to-back Pace goals cut the Setters' deficit to one, but Lemay would strike for his fourth of the outing minutes later to regain a two-goal edge for the Hawks.

The Setters went on to score five consecutive times to secure their first lead of the game, including three in a row from Matt Baldino, making it 9-6 in favor of Pace. Both sides traded goals in the final minutes of the half as Pace took a 10-7 lead into the break.

The Setters began the second half by scoring two goals in the opening 3:54 to make it 12-7.

Dean registered an unassisted strike with 4:42 to play in the third, which kickstarted an improbable comeback for the Hawks who would rip off a 7-0 run to close the game and secure the victory.

Boyle found the back of the net 3:53 into the fourth to cut the Hawks' deficit to three. Turpin registered his second of the night with 10:34 left to make it a two-goal game before Lemay capitalized on a man-up opportunity to make it a one-goal margin with 8:10 to play.

The Hawks tied the score at 12-all with 5:29 left in regulation as Crowley found twine for the first time in the contest. The lead shifted back to the Hawks for the first time since nearly the seven-minute mark of the second quarter with 3:29 remaining as Burns scored on a strong take to the net, making it 13-12. Lemay capped off the 7-0 run with a nifty behind-the-back goal with 1:18 to play to cap off the victory.

Up Next

The Hawks will host the winner of an opening round matchup between sixth-seeded Bentley University and third-seeded Pace under the lights of Grappone Stadium on Wednesday, April 29 at 7 p.m. in an NE10 Semifinal showdown.