Blue Jays Bounce Back, Beat Falcons With Fury, 13-4

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's lacrosse team flipped the script in dominant fashion on a gusty Tuesday afternoon in West Hartford, handling the Albertus Magnus College (AMC) Falcons, 13-4, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest on the USJ Lacrosse Field.

USJ struggled in an 18-7 loss on the road to Rivier Saturday, but would not be denied on their home turf, as a flock of five Blue Jays scored two goals apiece en route to victory. Freshman attackman Ryan Paltauf (Southbury, Conn.), junior attackman Matt Guerin (East Longmeadow, Mass.), sophomore attackman Noah Mocksfield (Colchester, Conn.), senior captain and attackman Owen LaPorte (Farmington, Conn.), and the 'X'-man, freshman midfielder Samuel Barbetti (Guilford, Conn.) all found the back of the cage twice. Mocksfield and Guerin also added an assist each. Freshman attackman Kader Price (Walden, N.Y.) led the way for the Falcons with two goals.

The Blue Jays were in control from the opening faceoff, taking three times as many shots (73-23) and forcing three times as many turnovers (36-11). USJ scored eight consecutive times between the second and third periods to pull away.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Albertus Magnus 4, Saint Joseph 13
Records: AMC (1-3, 0-3 GNAC), USJ (3-2, 2-1 GNAC)
Location: USJ Lacrosse Field | West Hartford, Conn.

PLAYER QUOTE [Trey McCann on his role in today's win]
"I just need to come in and make a few saves to get the defense going. That's what we did, the 'D' got going, the zone held and we did well. That is what we are going to do the rest of the season."

COACH QUOTE [Andrew Fink on today's all-around performance]
"I was very proud of the defense. We had a tough game on Saturday, and we came back today and executed things. A lot of young players had a great opportunity to get out there and compete. It's really a 'next man up' [mentality] here, and today it all kind of clicked."

GAME NOTES

• Saint Joseph scored four goals in three different quarters.
• LaPorte took nearly as many shots (19) as the entire Falcons team (23).
• Both teams went 0-for-2 in man-up situations.
• The Blue Jays were +11 in ground ball differential.

NUMBER TO KNOW

3 – The Blue Jays are 3-0 this season when they take 60 shots or more, outscoring opponents, 54-21. They are 0-2 when shooting 60 times or less.

GOALIE BREAKDOWN

USJ – Sophomore Trey McCann (Simsbury, Conn.) had easily one of his most impressive games in goal, picking up another win (3-2) in 55 minutes of action. He had 10 saves and tied a season-low allowing only three goals. Senior captain Joseph Varagnolo (Centereach, N.Y.) also saw time for the Blue Jays.

AMC – Junior goalie Dane Walsh (Bethany, Conn.) went the distance for the Falcons, allowing 13 goals. He did turn heads though with several spectacular saves, saving 24 shots in all in the loss (1-3).

BATTLE AT THE 'X'

Senior midfielder Jayme Toro (East Haven, Conn.) won the game within the game Tuesday, snagging 13-of-20 (65%) faceoffs on the day.

UP NEXT
The USJ men's lacrosse team will remain home for another GNAC matchup, this time against the 2019 and defending GNAC Champions, Norwich University, on Saturday, April 3, at 1:00 p.m on the USJ Lacrosse Field. Fans can tune in live to catch all the action and the senior day festivities at www.usjbluejays.com.

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