WINTHROP, Mass. – Rivier and the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) edged out the competition to take the No. 1 seeds in their respective divisions heading into the 2024 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament. The Tournament begins on Saturday, April 27 with the quarterfinal round.
In addition to being 5-1 in the South Division, last year's GNAC Championship runner-up, USJ, also defeated all four of their North Division foes to compile a 9-1 conference record and a 13-3 record overall. Rivier went 3-1 in cross-division games for an 8-2 GNAC record and a 10-6 mark overall.
Saint Joseph's has earned the #3 seed in the North Division and will play at #2S Dean College on Saturday at 12:00 PM.
Featuring one of the most potent offensive attacks in the conference, the Monks roster three players with over 50 points and another – sophomore Tiger Hopkins (Leeds, Maine) - who has 41 points in just nine games. Senior Tim Goodfellow (Wayland, Mass.) just broke the Monks' career points record (212) and has 78 points (36G, 42A) while grad Xavier Michaud (Wales, Maine) recently broke the SJC single-season goals record (55) and grad Nathaniel Girardin (Brunswick, Maine) has 36 goals and 18 assists in 17 games. Freshman Zander Kirk (Bath, Maine) has been excellent as the Monks' FOGO with 170 face-off wins in 301 attempts and a team-high 91 ground balls while first-year netminder Reed Wescott (Windham, Maine) has provided stability in goal with a 60.2% save percentage during the Monks' current seven-game winning streak.
The two division winners will be two of the four hosts for Saturday's quarterfinal games, which feature interdivision matchups. The No. 1 North seeded Raiders will welcome the No. 4 seed in the South Johnson & Wales (4-2 South, 9-6 overall) at 1 p.m., while the South-leading Blue Jays entertain No. 4 North seed Emmanuel (3-3 North, 5-11 overall) at 3 p.m.
The other two quarterfinals have No. 2 North seed Norwich (5-1 North, 11-6 overall) welcoming No. 3 South seed Lasell (4-2 South, 10-6 overall) and No. 2 South seed Dean hosting No. 3 North seed Saint Joseph's (Maine). The game at Dean is scheduled for noon, while the Norwich match is still TBA.
The season was incredibly tight this year, needing the league's tiebreaking procedure to determine seeding.
In the North Division, Rivier, Norwich, and Saint Joseph's (Maine) all finished with 5-1 divisional records. To start the tiebreaking protocol, the three teams were compared in head-to-head divisional matchups. All three went 1-1 in those pairings offering no relief. The next tiebreaking step involved comparing their results against their other North Division opponents in rank order. With all three teams defeating all other divisional opponents, a third tiebreaker was required. In the third tiebreaking step, the goal differential (capped at six) in head-to-head divisional games was compared. The Raiders emerged as the No. 1 North seed thanks to their +5 differential, compared to Norwich's -2 and SJC's -3.
With Rivier removed, the Cadets and Monks started a new tiebreaker from the first step with Norwich earning the No. 2 North seed with its 14-10 win over Saint Joseph's.
There were two separate ties in the South Division. First, USJ and Dean's deadlock at 5-1 had to be resolved. The Blue Jays were awarded the No. 1 South seed thanks to their 15-11 head-to-head win over the Bulldogs on March 30.
Lasell and Johnson & Wales finished the regular season with identical 4-2 South Division records, but it was the Lasers 14-7 win in the regular-season finale that gave them the edge and the No. 3 South seed.
Following Saturday's quarterfinals, the advancing teams will compete in the GNAC Semifinals on Wednesday, May 1. The Rivier-JWU victor will play the Dean-SJC winner, while the USJ-Emmanuel and Norwich-Lasell winners play each other.
The two semifinal winners will then compete for the conference title on Saturday, May 4 with the winner being crowned 2024 GNAC Men's Lacrosse Champion and earning the league's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship.
GNAC MEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
2024 GNAC Men's Lacrosse Tournament Schedule
Quarterfinals – Saturday, April 27
(Hosted by higher seeds)
#4S Johnson & Wales at #1N Rivier, 1 p.m.
#4N Emmanuel at #1S University of Saint Joseph (Conn.), 3 p.m.
#3S Lasell at #2N Norwich, TBA
#3N Saint Joseph's (Maine) at #2S Dean, Noon
Semifinals – Wednesday, May 1
(Hosted by higher seeds)
#1S/4N Winner vs. #2N/#3S Winner, TBA
#1N/4S Winner vs. #2S/#3N Winner, TBA
Championship – Saturday, May 4
(Hosted by higher seed)
Semifinal winners, TBD
THANKS IN LARGE PART TO THE GNAC SPORTS INFORMATION OFFICE
ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHEAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 16 member institutions and over 4000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
Stay up to date with all the latest news from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC)!
'Follow' us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, and 'Like' us on Facebook!
-#TheGNAC-
