PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – A strong third quarter and solid overall second half helped lift the No. 9/10 Pace University men's lacrosse team to an 11-8 victory over No. 17 Saint Anselm College Saturday afternoon in a highly-competitive Northeast-10 Conference matchup at Pace Stadium.
FIRST QUARTER
- The Setters got on the board first on Saturday when sophomore
Matthew Simone (Seaford, NY/Seaford) scored at the 10:40 mark to give Pace a 1-0 lead.
- Saint Anselm's Patrick Sweeney tied the game up at 1-1 at the 5:59 mark, and a defensive battle saw the game go to the second quarter with the same score.
SECOND QUARTER
- Xavier Quinn put the Hawks ahead 2-1 just 21 seconds into the second quarter off a feed from Oliver Ouellet.
- Eight minutes later, junior
Michael Pappalardo (Ossining, NY/Ossining) fired one in to tie the game at 2-2.
- Saint Anselm took the lead right back 24 seconds later on a goal by Alex Pacitti, but sophomore
Wyatt Barfoot (Georgian Bluffs, Ontario/St. Mary's) netted one at the 4:12 mark to tie it up once again.
- Simone then scored his second of the game to put the Setters in the lead, 4-3, but Sweeney tied it for the Hawks at the 1:45 mark.
- With just 23 seconds left in the half, a quick clear left junior
Liam Brennan (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman) one-on-one with the goalie, a battle in which he came out victorious, putting the Setters ahead, 5-4, heading into halftime.
THIRD QUARTER
- Junior
Joshua Kreitler (Shelton, CT/Shelton) gave the Setters a two-goal lead at the 13:43 mark with his first of the day, and then sophomore
Daniel Keenan (Mount Sinai, NY/Mount Sinai) scored his first of the year on an extra-man opportunity at the 10:57 mark to make it a 7-4 lead for Pace.
- Kreitler scored once again with 6:06 left in the third after a great feed from Barfoot to put the Setters ahead by four.
- James Righini scored the first goal of the second half for Saint Anselm with 1:08 left in the period to get the Hawks back within three, sending the game to the fourth with an 8-5 score.
FOURTH QUARTER
- Sophomore
Bradley Paterson (Caldwell, NJ/Depaul Catholic) got on the board 47 seconds into the fourth with a man-up goal to put Pace back up by four.
- Anthony Busconi got the Hawks back on the board just 60 seconds later to make it a 9-6 game.
- Ryan Hesseltine then brought Saint Anselm back within two at the 10:44 mark.
- Paterson then found Barfoot for a goal in close, and then Barfoot fed Paterson for a man-up goal to make it an 11-7 lead for the Setters.
- Sweeney scored his third of the day with 2:38 remaining to bring the Hawks back within three.
GOALIE DECISIONS
Win:
Robert Beshlian (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) (5-1)
Loss: Lucas DeAngelo (4-2)
Goalkeeper Notes
- Junior goalkeeper
Robert Beshlian (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) stopped 13 shots to pick up his fifth win of the year.
SETTER STATS
- Paterson led all scorers with five points on the afternoon on two goals and three assists.
- Barfoot was close behind with two goals and two assists for a four-point day.
- Kreitler netted two and assisted one more in a three-point day.
- Simone scored twice and picked up a ground ball.
- Keenan picked up two points on a goal and an assist.
- Freshman
Daniel Lewis (Bohemia, NY/Connetquot) led the Setters with five ground balls, while Pappalardo had a team-high four caused turnovers to go with his goal.
HAWK LEADERS
- Busconi and Sweeney each totaled three points on the day. Sweeney scored three times, while Busconi scored once with two assists.
- Derrick LaBranche had a game-high seven ground balls along with three caused turnovers.
RECORDS
#9/10 Pace: 5-1 (3-1 NE10)
#17/18 Saint Anselm: 4-2 (3-1 NE10)
WHAT'S NEXT?
- The Setters face a big challenge on Wednesday, April 5, when they host defending National Champion No. 3 Le Moyne College at Pace Stadium in another big NE10 matchup. The opening faceoff is set for 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).
