AMCATS Drop GNAC Showdown With Saints

Paxton, Mass.—The Anna Maria College men's lacrosse team fell to the visiting Saints of Emmanuel College by a final score of 18-5 on Tuesday evening at AMCAT field in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action. The loss drops the AMCATS to 2-9 overall and 0-3 in the conference while the Saints improve to 4-7 on the season and 2-2 in the GNAC.

AMCAT LEADERS

Malik Griffith (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led the home team offense with two points from two goals. Brandon Pavoni (Granby, Mass.), James Wieliczko (Holderness, N.H.), and Kyle Benning (Puyallup, Wash.) all added goals for the AMCATS. John Bartose had two caused turnovers on defense while sophomore goaltender Paul Schwarz (Staten Island, N.Y.) led Anna Maria with three ground balls and 28 saves in the loss.

SAINT LEADERS

Charlie Moran led the Saints on offense with a game high nine points from six goals and three assists in the victory. Donnie Litzelman added seven points from four goals and three assists while Cullen Sweeney joined the leader board with four points from a goal and three assists. Andrew Griffin and Sam Ward added two goals apiece. The visitors had eight different goal scorers on the night.

Lietzelman added a game high four caused turnovers. Michael Sousa was dominant in the circle winning 19 of 23 face offs and collecting a game-high 17 ground balls in the victory. 

Erik Jennings made 15 saves in his first start of the season boosting his record to 1-0.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Anna Maria opened up scoring for the night with an unassisted goal by freshman Kyle Benning with 13:44 to play in the first period. Benning earned the second chance goal as he picked up the ball after a shot by Kurt Richardson (Narragansett, R.I.) was saved by Emmanuel goaltender, Erik Jennings.

Emmanuel responded quickly with a goal just one minute later by Charlie Moran. Emmanuel added four more unanswered goals to give them a 5-1 lead with 30 seconds to play in the first period. Anna Maria capitalized on one last scoring opportunity in the period with a freshman duo goal as Pavoni received a pass from Richardson and buried it in the back of the Saint's net (5-2).

Emmanuel wasted no time in the second quarter, adding another goal just 30 seconds in as Griffin found the back of the net off of a pass from Litzelman (6-2). Anna Maria did not let up and answered back 30 seconds later as Ryan Rockwal (Chicopee, Mass.) passed the ball to Wieliczko who put it behind Jennings to bring the AMCATS within three (6-3). Emmanuel and Anna Maria traded another set of goals with ten minutes to play in the second quarter but the Saints were able to add two more before the half to take the 9-4 lead into the break.

Emmanuel came into the second half firing as they outscored the AMCATS 9-1. Charlie Moran added four points from three goals and an assist in the second half to lift the Saint to the ultimate 18-5 victory.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Anna Maria travels to Saint Joseph's College (Me.) on Saturday, April 15 for a 1:00 p.m. GNAC contest. The Saints travel to Wentworth on Thursday, April 13 for a 7:00 p.m. game.