Men's Lacrosse Takes Down Dean, 16-13, Saturday Afternoon

FRANKLIN, Mass. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's lacrosse team snapped a four-game losing skid, taking down Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) South Division foe Dean College (Dean), 16-13, Saturday afternoon at Grant Field in Franklin, Mass. With the result, the Blue Jays moved to 3-5 overall, 1-1 in GNAC play and 1-0 in the South Division, while the Bulldogs dropped to 7-1 on the year, 1-1 in conference play and 0-1 in the South Division.

KEY MOMENTS 

• The Blue Jays got off to a hot start, as graduate student attack Ryan Paltauf (Southbury, Conn.) picked out a pass to classmate Aidan D'Amato (Tolland, Conn.) who rifled his shot into the goal, establishing a 1-0 lead at the 11:10 mark.
• USJ wasted little time netting a second, as Paltauf picked out senior defenseman Jay Kajander (Reading, Mass.) who scored his first goal of the game to increase the gap to 1-0 with 10:57 on the clock.
• Graduate student attack Evan Baden (Burlington, Conn.) continued the strong start, finding the back of the net with 9:48 left in the first, establishing a 3-0 USJ lead.
• Baden would find the back of the net again at the 7:35 mark, converting on a man-up chance to increase the Blue Jays edge to 4-0.
• Dean would answer back, closing the gap to 4-1 at the 3:43 mark, but sophomore attack Matthew Wurszt (Wilbraham, Mass.) fired back at the 2:26 mark, reestablishing a four-goal USJ lead, 5-1.
• The two teams traded goals to close out the first quarter, as senior midfielder Christian Decker (Bristol, Conn.) found the back of the net with 31 seconds left in the first, sending the Blue Jays into the second quarter with a 6-2 advantage.
• Dean would begin to mount a comeback, closing the deficit to one, 7-6, with 1:18 left in the half. However, Wurszt would find the back of the net with six seconds on the clock, reestablishing a two-goal lead entering halftime, 8-6.
• The Blue Jays carried the momentum into the second half, as Baden scored two unanswered goals to open the third, extending the gap to 10-6 with 13:16 on the clock.
• Dean responded with back-to-back strikes, closing the advantage to two, 10-8, withn9:57 left in the third.
• Graduate student midfielder Kevin Carr (West Hartford, Conn.) put an end to the run, finding the back of the net at the 8:34 mark, but the Bulldogs did not go away, scoring three unanswered goals to tie the game at 11-11 with 3:51 on the clock.
• However, D'Amato would find the back of the net again, establishing a 12-11 USJ lead entering the fourth quarter.
• Dean would level the game 46 seconds into the fourth, but D'Amato would net back-to-back goals, before Baden added a goal of his own, increasing the USJ lead back to three, 15-12, with 7:14 left to play.
• The Bulldogs would close the gap to two, 15-13, but a D'Amato goal at the 2:41 mark, followed by numerous fantastic saves from senior goalkeeper Trey McCann (Simsbury, Conn.) saw the Blue Jays take home the victory, 16-13.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Baden and D'Amato paced the team with seven points each. Baden netted six goals and dished out one assist, while D'Amato found the back of the net five times while recording two assists.
• Graduate student faceoff Gene Casceillo (Seymour, Conn.) tallied a team-best six ground balls.
• Carr and sophomore defensemen Vinny Pusateri III (Fitchburg, Mass.) caused a team-high two turnovers each.
• Casciello was the main faceoff man, posting a 12-of-25 mark at the "X".
• USJ and Dean were deadlocked at the "X", as both teams won 16 faceoffs each.
• McCann played all 60 minutes in the cage, tallying nine saves to earn the win.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays return home for a GNAC game against Johnson & Wales University on Wednesday, April 2. Opening faceoff against the Wildcats at the USJ Lacrosse Field in West Hartford, Conn. is set for 3:00 p.m.

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