WEST HAVEN, Conn. - University of Saint Joseph (7-2, 3-0 GNAC) tipped Saint Joseph's College (4-6, 1-2 GNAC), 15-14, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's lacrosse action on Sunday.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Monks held at least a share of the lead for all but the final shot of the game, as the Blue Jays turned a 14-12 deficit into a 15-14 final with three unanswered goals in the final 63 seconds, with Nick Pestrichello netting the game-winner with 19 seconds on the clock.

Saint Joseph's opened the contest with a 4-1 lead as senior Tim Goodfellow (Wayland, Mass.) scored three goals in the first 10 minutes. Sophomore Tiger Hopkins (Leeds, Maine) gave his team a 5-2 lead at the 12:30 mark of the second stanza, but USJ potted three straight tallies, including a Christian Decker strike that tied the game 5-5 with 8:12 before the break.

The Monks capped the first half with goals from Xavier Michaud (Wales, Maine) and sophomore Matt Denman (Brentwood, N.H.) and carried a 7-6 edge into intermission.

The conference counterparts swapped scores in the opening five minutes of the third quarter as the score stood at an 8-8 stalemate with 10:07 left in the penultimate period. Hopkins, Nathaniel Girardin (Brunswick, Maine), and Goodfellow all hit pay dirt in the frame's final four minutes to provide the Royal Blue with an 11-8 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

The Blue Jays quickly erased the deficit by netting three straight goals, including a pair from Sam Barbetti, in the first eight minutes of the final frame. The Monks clung to a 14-12 lead after Denman scored off a Hopkins feed at the 4:47 mark and Michaud scored a man-down marker with 1:29 to play.

Barbetti struck again 26 seconds later and Ryan Paltauf tied the game with an unassisted tally with 29 seconds remaining. Luke von Borstel won the ensuing face-off as Pestrichello scooped up the ground ball, streaked downfield, and steered home the game winner.

TEAM STATS:

USJ held the lead in shots (53-40), shots on goal (32-23), ground balls (43-30), caused turnovers (11-8), and face-off victories (19-13).

THE KEEPERS:

SJC freshman Reed Wescott (Windham, Maine) made 17 saves in the setback while USJ netminder Trey McCann turned away nine shots in a winning effort.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Goodfellow scored six goals with an assist, four ground balls, and two caused turnovers
• Hopkins tallied two goals, three assists, and a pair of ground balls
• Denman added two goals and an assist with three ground balls
• Girardin chipped in with a goal and two assists
• Michaud scored twice on five shots
• Grad Connor Bogdanski (Southington, Conn.) posted four ground balls and four caused turnovers

LEADERS – UNIVERSITY OF SAINT JOSEPH:

• Pestrichello scored four goals on 16 shots with three ground balls
• Paltauf netted three goals with an assist and three ground balls
• Barbetti potted three goals with seven ground balls and two caused turnovers and was 6-12 on face-off attempts
• Decker added three goals on 11 shots
• von Borstel was 13-20 on face-off attempts with seven ground balls

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 1-2 in the history of the series with University of Saint Joseph.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's will host Rivier University on Thursday in a GNAC contest set to start at 4:00 PM.

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