Men's Lacrosse Extends Winning Streak to Five, Defeats NEC Saturday Afternoon

• USJ struck quickly, as senior attack Nick Pestrichello (Newington, Conn.) drove through the middle of the defense and found the back of the net just 37 seconds into the game to give the Blue Jays a 1–0 lead.
• NEC answered with a man-up goal at the 7:13 mark, but USJ swiftly reclaimed the advantage when graduate student attack Brycen Kennedy (Southington, Conn.) located junior midfielder Brenden Tedeschi (Orange, Vt.), who rifled a shot into the cage with 6:42 remaining to make it 2–1.
• Kennedy extended the lead moments later, scoring off an assist from sophomore attack Dominic Oakes (Southington, Conn.) at the 5:29 mark to give USJ a 3–1 advantage.
• The Pilgrims responded with back-to-back goals to tie the game at 3–3, but Pestrichello found junior attack Adam Pelletier (North Kingstown, R.I.) on the doorstep for a quick finish, giving USJ a 4–3 edge heading into the second quarter.
• The Blue Jays carried the momentum into the second period. Senior defenseman Nick Wesley (Wakefield, Mass.) pushed the ball downfield on a clear and dished to a wide-open senior attack Freeman Johnson (Swanzey, N.H.), who buried the shot to extend the lead to 5–3 at the 13:27 mark.
• Johnson struck again less than two minutes later, as junior midfielder JD DeNicola-Rakvin (Staten Island, N.Y.) found him in front for another tally, giving USJ a 6–3 lead with 12:11 remaining in the half.
• Johnson completed his hat trick at the 10:38 mark to cap the quarter, pushing the Blue Jays' advantage to 7–3. The USJ defense continued to stifle the NEC attack, and the score held going into halftime.
• USJ dominated the second half, beginning with four straight goals from Pestrichello to extend the lead to 11–3 with 5:53 remaining in the third quarter.
• Junior attack Alexander Milne (Branford, Conn.) added a man-down goal with 51 seconds left in the period, and Johnson beat the buzzer to close out the quarter, sending USJ into the fourth with a 13–3 advantage.
• The Blue Jays tacked on three more goals in the final frame, as junior faceoff specialist Benjamin Bausch (Holliston, Mass.), sophomore midfielder Chris Clancy (Glastonbury, Conn.), and DeNicola-Rakvin all found the back of the net. The USJ defense continued its strong play to preserve the 16–3 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 

• Pestrichello led the offense with a game-high six points on five goals and one assist.
• Johnson recorded a career-high four goals.
• Wesley caused a game-high six turnovers and collected a game-best eight ground balls.
• Bausch paced the Blue Jays at the faceoff X, going 9-for-17.
• Junior goalkeeper Noah Isleib (Easton, Mass.) earned the win to improve to 7–1 after making seven saves in 45:14 of action.
• Freshman Will Keegan (West Hartford, Conn.) played 12:46 in goal, recording three saves.
• Sophomore Kris Dube (Southington, Conn.) saw the final two minutes and added one save.

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