Thursday, April 19, 2012 (Newton, Massachusetts) - Four goals in the second quarter gave the Mount Ida College men's lacrosse team a one goal (6-5) advantage heading into halftime holding visiting St. Joseph's College (ME) to two scores in the final two frames to close out the 11-7 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory Thursday evening in Newton, Massachusetts on senior day. Ninth year Head Coach Andrew Fink and the Mount Ida College Athletic Department would honor 10 men's lacrosse seniors prior to the opening face-off.
The Mustangs improve to an overall record of 11-4 with a league slate of 7-1 while the Monks fall to 5-3 in GNAC play going 7-9 overall for the 2012 season.
Mount Ida would go ahead 2-1 on two goals by junior attacker Gilson Fernandes (Saugus, MA/Saugus) both on feeds from freshman Michael Trocchi (Danvers, MA/Danvers) with 6:27 to go in the first stanza. The visitors snatched their first tally of the game on a goal from senior Jonathan Horgan (Hingham, MA/Hingham) off a dish from freshman Max Meserve (Kennebunk, ME/Kennebunk).
The Monks followed by scoring the next two goals for the 3-2 lead, their first of the game, on tallies from Horgan and Meserve with two and a half minutes to go in the first quarter.
To start the second frame, Mount Ida senior's Zach Jacobson (Shoreview, MN/Moundsview) and Sean Slattery (South Burlington, VT/South Burlington) converted goals regaining the advantage early on up 4-3. On Jacobson's goal, Mustang netminder Jimmy McAllister (Smithfield, RI/LaSalle Academy) sailed a perfect full field pass giving his teammate a perfect setup gaining the assist.
St. Joseph's countered with two scores taking the lead back, up 5-4, with nine minutes to go before the midway point on unassisted goals from Meserve and sophomore Jake Ricciardi (Sharon, MA/Sharon).
The Mustangs would round out the first half on two straight tallies from Jacobson off feeds from Fernandes and senior long stick midfielder Sean Maher (Ashland, MA/Ashland) ahead 6-5 closing out a tough opening stanza.
After leading off the second half with a man-up goal from Monk senior Benson Pasquarello (Kennebunk, ME/Kennebunk) tying the game at 6-6, the hosts would go on to score three consecutive scores on tallies from Fernandes, Jacobson and senior Ian Saunders (Glens Falls, NY/Glens Falls) opening up 9-6 advantage with less than a minute to go in the third stanza.
St. Joseph's added one more goal early in the fourth quarter (12:49) from junior Jordan Grant (Windsor, ME/Gardiner Area) on a dish from Ricciardi to pull within two scores at 9-7.
Mount Ida would add the final two goals from sophomore J.T. Hoyt (Westfield, MA/Westfield) and Fernandes to close out the 11-7 GNAC victory good for the Mustangs seventh league win of the season.
The Mustangs were led by four scores a piece from Jacobson and Fernandes, this is the second straight game Jacobson has recorded four goals with Fernandes also adding an assist. Saunders, Slattery and Hoyt each chipped in a goal while Trocchi notched three assists. Senior midfielder Brendan Hylan (Clinton, CT/The Morgan School) notched a dish respectively.
Sophomore face-off specialist Kyle Danehy (Marlborough, MA/Marlborough) continues to dominate the middle circle going 17-21 on the day with eight groundballs. Junior defenseman Nick Maurias (Peabody, MA/Peabody) added six pick-ups and four caused turnovers as well.
McAllister saw all 60 minutes between the pipes for Mount Ida denying 18 Monk shots while St. Joseph's goaltender, junior Christopher Driscoll (Saco, ME/Thornton Academy), was impressive keeping his team alive notching 27 saves.
The Mustangs are back in action this Saturday in Northfield, Vermont for their final regular season game of the year against hosting Norwich University with game time slated for 3:00 p.m. The Monks will host GNAC member Rivier College the same day for their Senior Day starting at 1:00 p.m.