The Mount Ida College men’s lacrosse team captured their third North Atlantic Conference (NAC) victory over visiting St. Joseph’s College (ME) 14-5 in Newton, Massachusetts this Saturday.  The Mustangs improve to 5-4 and a perfect 4-0 in NAC play while the visitors fall to 4-6, 1-3 in the league.  Mount Ida sits atop the conference standings in first place. 

The Mustangs notched the first three scores of the contest in the opening from with goals from senior Brandon Keith (Barnstable, MA/Barnstable), junior Paul Battapaglia (Clinton, CT/Morgan), and freshman Nick Yacuzzi (Oakham, MA/St. John’s) to hold a comfortable 3-0 advantage for the only scores of the first quarter.

The visitors answered to start the second stanza on an unassisted goal from senior Jake LaFreniere (Alton, NH/Prospect Mountain) making it 3-1 in favor of the hosts.

Two more Mount Ida scores ensued off a junior Matthew Savage (Peabody, MA/Peabody) from Keith followed by a laser from senior Christopher Prophete (Waltham, MA/Waltham) on a dish from junior Dan Harrington (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) for the 5-1 advantage with 4:39 to go in the first half. 

The Monks added one more score before the end of the first on an unassisted goal by freshman Spencer Hunt (Jeffersonville, VT/Lamoille Union) cutting the Mount Ida advantage to 5-2. 

Six consecutive scores by Mount Ida to start the second half solidified the win for the Mustangs leading 11-2 with goals from Keith, Yaczzi, Savage, Battapaglia, and sophomore Zach Jacobson (Shoreview, MN/Moundsview) all notching one apiece. 

The visitors answered with three straight goals of their own starting towards the end of the third quarter heading into the fourth on scores from junior Elliot La Marre (Raymond, ME/Westbrook), and sophomore’s Benson Pasquarello (Kennebunk, ME/Kennebunk) and Paul Dolewa (Saco, ME/Thornton Academy) cutting the Mount Ida lead to 11-5.

But the Mustangs tallied the final three goals of the contest on all single scores from Savage, Battapaglia, and Prophete to seal the 14-5 NAC victory, their third of the season. 

Battapaglia, Prophete, and Savage led the Mustangs with three goals a piece.

Mount Ida goaltender sophomore Justin Famiglietti (Peabody, MA/Peabody) saw the first half notching three saves while sophomore’s Jimmy McAllister (Smithfield, RI/LaSalle Academy) and Craig Naftal (Bellmore, NY/JFK) split the third and fourth quarter combining for seven stops.

The Mustangs will host non-conference Babson College this coming Wednesday starting at 4:00 p.m.