Men's Lacrosse Takes Down Nichols on the Road Wednesday Afternoon, 13-9

DUDLEY, Mass. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's lacrosse team got back in the win column Wednesday afternoon, besting non-conference foe Nichols College (Nichols), 13-9 at Vendetti Field in Dudley, Mass. WIth the result, the Blue Jays improved to 2-1 on the season, while the Bison dropped to 0-2.

KEY MOMENTS 

• Nichols would take control early in the first quarter, jumping out to a 3-0 lead at the 8:17 mark.
• Graduate student attack Evan Baden (Burlington, Conn.) put an end to the run, scoring his first goal of the season off an assist from senior midfielder Garrett Lazor (Monroe, Conn.), to cut the gap to 3-1 at the six-minute mark.
• However, the Bison would find the back of the net again and kept USJ off the score sheet, holding a 4-1 edge after the first quarter.
• Nichols carried the momentum into the second, extending the gap to 5-1, before junior midfielder Freeman Johnson (Swanzey, N.H.) scored his first goal of the year, closing the gap to 5-2 with with 8:32 on the clock.
• The Blue Jays continued to battle back, as graduate student midfielder Kevin Carr (West Hartford, Conn.) would score a solo goal to bring USJ within two, 5-3, before Lazor found the back of the net himself, cutting the deficit to one, 5-4, entering halftime.
• Baden wasted little time tying the game for USJ to start the third quarter, scoring at the 11:59 mark to knot the score at 5-5.
• However, Nichols would rattle off three unanswered goals, reestablishing a three-goal edge, 8-5, with 8:14 left in the third.
• The Blue Jays would not go away though, as graduate student midfielder Aidan D'Amato (Tolland, Conn.) closed the gap to 8-6 with his first goal of the game at the 4:59 mark, before Baden netted two consecutive goals, leveling the game at 8-8 entering the fourth quarter.
• D'Amato then took full advantage of a man-up situation to start the fourth, scoring a no-look, behind the back goal, to give USJ their first lead of the game, 9-8, with 13:44 on the clock.
• Johnson continued the momentum, scoring his second goal of the game to increase the edge to two, 10-8, at the 11:05 mark.
• Nichols would close the gap back to one, 10-9, but D'Amato rounded out his hattrick, reestablishing a two-goal lead, 11-9, with a strike at the 9:28 mark.
• Baden would then find the back of the net again twice more, extending the USJ lead to four, 13-9, with 4:44 left to play.
• The Blue Jays would continued to hold off the Nichols attack, as the visitors secured the victory, 13-9.

NOTES 

• Baden paced the team with six points off six goals.
• Graduate student attack Ryan Paltauf (Southbury, Conn.) dished out a team-best three assists.
• D'Amato netted his third hattrick in as many games this season.
• Nine different Blue Jays caused a turnover on the day.
• Graduate student Gene Casceillo (Seymour, Conn.) was the primary face-off man, posting an 11-of-21 mark at the "X".
• Graduate student Trey McCann (Simsbury, Conn.) played all 60 minutes in net, tallying nine saves.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays round out a three-game road trip, heading to Worcester, Mass., to face Clark University on Saturday, March 1. Opening faceoff against the Cougars at the Granger Athletic Complex is set for 1:00 p.m.

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