MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Pace University men's lacrosse team knocked off previously undefeated Saint Anselm College on Saturday by a score of 15-9 in Northeast-10 Conference action at Grappone Stadium. Pace improves to 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the NE-10 with the win, while Saint Anselm drops to 5-1 and 3-1.
Saint Anselm held a 2-1 lead by the 6:23 mark of the first quarter. Senior
Tyler Meigel (Centereach, NY/Centereach) then tied the game three minutes later, eventually leading to a 2-2 draw after the first period.
The Setters used the momentum from Meigel's score to add the next five goals and take a 7-2 advantage late in the second frame. Saint Anselm's James Olsen scored with just a second left in the half, but Pace went into the locker room with a 7-3 edge.
Sophomore
Joshua Kreitler (Shelton, CT/Shelton) and Junior
Peter Sharp (Airmont, NY/Suffern) both scored midway through the third stanza, accounting for the only two goals in the period to improve the lead to six goals.
The fourth quarter then saw more goals scored than the first three combined. The Hawks scored twice to open the quarter, but Pace responded with three in a row by Kreitler, sophomore
Liam Brennan (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman) and sophomore
Anthony Gadaleta (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) to take a 12-5 lead. The Hawks fired back with two straight, but Pace responded with three in a row to take a 15-7 lead with just 1:11 left. Saint Anselm rallied for two goals in the final 44 seconds, but it was not enough as the Setters held on for the six-goal victory.
Sophomore goalkeeper
Robert Beshlian (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) improved to 7-2 after making 13 saves for the win. Saint Anselm netminder Lucas DeAngelo took his first loss of the season to fall to 5-1.
Kreitler led the Setters with four points on the day, including three goals and an assist. Gadaleta scored twice and assisted another, while Brennan dished out two assists and scored a goal, giving each student-athlete a three-point afternoon. Sharp scored twice as well. In total, 11 different Setters scored in Saturday's win.
Senior
Matt Ruquet (Rocky Point, NY/Rocky Point / Manhattan College) won 16-of-26 (61.5 percent) of his face-offs on Saturday, and scooped up a game-high eight ground balls. Juniors
Brandon Donnellan (Chester, NY/Warwick Valley) and
Jeremy Wiley (Port Jefferson Station, NY/Comsewogue) caused two turnovers apiece.
Olsen led all scorers with six points on three goals and three assists. Xavier Quinn provided three scores for the Hawks, while Patrick Sweeney assisted two and scored one of his own.
Saint Anselm held a 38-28 edge in shots on Saturday, but both teams were even with 22 shots on goal. Both teams failed just one clear each in the game. Pace won 17-of-27 face-offs, and capitalized on 3-of-5 extra-man opportunities.
Now riding a four-game winning streak, the Setters will face their toughest test of the season, as they visit nationally-ranked No. 2 Le Moyne College on Wednesday, April 6, in Syracuse, N.Y. The game is set to begin at 3 p.m.
For all information regarding Pace University men's lacrosse, log on to
www.PaceUAthletics.com, follow Pace Athletics on Facebook (
T-Bone, Official Mascot of Pace University Athletics), and follow the men's lacrosse team on Twitter (
@PaceLacrosse) and on Instagram (
@PaceUnivLax).
