The Mount Ida College men's lacrosse team got back on track with a 13-6 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory over hosting Saint Joseph's College (ME) Wednesday night winning 13-6. With the win, the Mustangs remain undefeated in conference play at 2-0 and pull to an overall record of 3-7.
The Mustangs scored the first three goals of the game on bids from sophomore Nick Yacuzzi (Worcester, MA/St. John's-Shrewsbury), junior Ian Saunders (Glens Falls, NY/Glens Falls), and senior Matt Savage (Peabody, MA/Peabody) for the 3-0 lead. Zachary Chaisson (Concord, NH), who netted three goals in the losing effort for the Monks, closed the gap for the hosts with two tallies in a matter of 40 seconds to make it a 3-2 contest with 2:36 left in the first quarter. After a well-played second stanza, Mount Ida carried a slim 5-3 edge into the intermission.
The Mustangs began the third quarter with three straight scores to take an 8-3 lead, but Benson Pasquarello (Kennebunk, ME) found the back of the cage in a man-up situation to cut the Monks' deficit down to four goals with 51 seconds remaining in the third period.
Mount Ida senior Dan Harrington (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) sparked his team with two man-up goals in the first two minutes of the final quarter and the visitors held a 12-4 advantage with 6:48 remaining.
The Monks received goals just 15 seconds apart from Chaisson and Spencer Hunt (Jeffersonville, VT) to make it a 12-6 game with 4:14 on the clock, but the late scoring burst proved to be futile as the Mustangs clamped down defensively and added another marker in the closing minutes to secure an important conference win.
For the Monks, Hunt netted a goal and an assist and Robert Murtha (North Kingstown, RI) added a tally. Bryan Johnson (Brookline, NH) broke the program's game record with nine caused turnovers and Jake Ricciardi (Sharon, MA) corralled six ground balls in the loss.
For the Mustangs, Yacuzzi recorded three goals and two assists, Harrington netted three goals and an assist, Savage tallied two goals and two helpers, and Saunders chipped in with a pair of markers. Carl Grimo (Bristol, RI/LaSalle Academy) scooped up six ground balls and Nick Maurais (Peabody, MA/Peabody) added five caused turnovers in the Mount Ida triumph.
SJC keeper Christopher Driscoll (Saco, ME) made 13 stops and Mount Ida netminder Chandler Webb (Newton, MA/Bishop Hendricken (RI)) recorded seven saves between the pipes.
Mount Ida held advantages in shots (50-24), ground balls (48-41) and face-off wins (14-8) in the conference victory. The Mustangs also converted five of nine extra-man opportunities on the night.
Mount Ida will finally head back to the stable with another conference bid, this time against visiting Daniel Webster College with game time slated for 1:00 p.m.