Men's Lacrosse Secures Gutsy Road Win Over Castleton Friday, 14-9

CASTLETON, Vt. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's lacrosse team picked up its second win of the 2022 season Friday in an impressive 14-9 victory over Little East Conference opponent Castleton University (CU), in a non-conference match at Dave Wolk Stadium.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Saint Joseph 14, Castleton 9
Records: USJ (2-2), CU (0-3)
Location: Dave Wolk Stadium | Castleton, Vt.

The Blue Jays were led by the duo of junior midfielder Noah Mocksfield (Colchester, Conn.) and junior midfielder and captain Evan Baden (Burlington, Conn.), who had three goals each in the triumph. Sophomore attackman Ryan Paltauf (Southbury, Conn.) added a season-high six assists, his second most in a game in his career (had 10 in a game as a freshman in 2021). Paltauf leads the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) in points with 23 and assists with 15, while Mocksfield is atop the GNAC with 14 goals.

The Spartans relied on a trio of players to score, each of them finishing with two goals. Junior attack Sean Kimura (Montreal, Quebec) had two goals and two assists to lead the charge. Saint Joseph relied on a hot start in this one, scoring five goals while shutting out Castleton in the first period. It was a game of catchup for the Spartans, which found its offense in the second period and beyond, but the hosts could not get closer than three goals down, as six different Blue Jays scored the first six goals of the game, which proved to be the moment of the game.

COACH QUOTE [Andrew Fink]
"An amazing win for us on the road against a Little East Conference opponent. It's without a doubt the best non-conference win in our program's history. It was also a great comeback for us after a hard-fought game in the snow against Eastern on Wednesday. It really shows how hard the team has been working to compete at this level."

GOALIE BREAKDOWN

USJ – Junior goalkeeper and captain Trey McCann (Simsbury, Conn.) took the win (2-2) with five saves and nine goals allowed in a full 60 minutes of action.

CU – Sophomore goalie Chris Wilk (Rutland, Vt.) took the loss (0-3), allowing 14 goals on 25 shots while going the distance.

BATTLE AT THE 'X'

Faceoffs were nearly dead-even, with the Blue Jays holding the slimmest of margins, 12-11. Sophomore faceoff Samuel Barbetti (Guilford, Conn.) led the way with nine of them on 19 attempts.

UP NEXT
The Blue Jays are headed home for their next two games, the first being a non-conference game against Eastern Nazarene on Wednesday, March 16 at 4:00 p.m. Fans can head over to www.usjbluejays.com to catch the action live.

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