Saints Top Anna Maria in Men’s Lacrosse

BOSTON, Mass. – Eight different players scored to lead the Emmanuel College men's lacrosse team past Anna Maria College, 15-3, Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action at Roberto Clemente Field. The win for the Saints was their sixth-straight, a program-record, as they improve to 6-3 on the year and 4-0 in the GNAC while the loss drops the AMCATS to 1-8 and 1-3.

Sophomore middie Chris Curtis (Ashland, Mass.) got the Saints started with his 13th goal of the year at the 11:22 marker in the first quarter before freshman attack Tony Cibelli (Westboro, Mass.) made it 2-0 less than a minute later.

Anna  Maria sophomore attack Lucas Stralka (East Greenwich, R.I.) cut the lead in half with his team-leading 17th goal of the year to make it 2-1 with 9:37 to play in the opening quarter but it would be the closest the visitors would get as Emmanuel would close out the half scoring four unanswered goals to take a 6-1 lead into the intermission.

Sophomore attack Kaile MacLean-Daley (Moretown, Vt.) opened the second half with his 13th goal of the year, finishing a feed from junior attack Ryan Sabuda (Indianapolis, Ind.) to make it 7-1 before Lucas netted his second goal of the game to pull the AMCATS to within five at 7-2.

Following the visitor score, the Saints closed the third quarter in control, netting six consecutive goals including a pair from sophomore middie Michael Rogers (New Haven, Conn.) to take a commanding 13-2 lead into the final quarter.

Sophomore middie Justin Kelly (Collegeville, Pa.) made it 14-2 with an unassisted goal at the 11:25 mark in the fourth before Stralka found the back of the net for the third time in the contest for Anna Maria to bump the score to 14-3.

EC junior middie Jake Pickett (Stratham, N.H.) capped the scoring with his first goal of the year with 3:07 to play to account for the 15-3 final.

Rogers and Cibelli both finished the game with three goals while MacLean-Daley, Curtis and junior attack Evan Dolber (Malden, Mass.) chipped in with two scores a piece.

AMCATS junior defender Nathan Batallas (Templeton, Mass.) recorded a game-high 10 groundballs to help Anna Maria win the face off battle, 14-8. The Saints outshot the AMCATS, 57-11, in the win.

Junior goalie Austin Lauzier (Bedford, N.H.) picked up the win making three saves while junior Justin Byers (Indianapolis, Ind.) stopped one shut during the final quarter.

Freshman goalie Franco Francioso (Walpole, Mass.) played well making 15 saves for Anna Maria.

The Saints return to action on Tuesday, April 1 when they head to Providence, R.I. to take on Johnson & Wales University at 4:00 PM while the AMCATS host Rivier University on April 2 at 4:00 PM