Men's Lacrosse Dominates Johnson & Wales, 13-4, Wednesday Afternoon

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's lacrosse team breezed past Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) South Division opponent Johnson & Wales University (JWU), 13-4, Wednesday afternoon at the USJ Lacrosse Field in West Hartford, Conn. With the result, the Blue Jays move to 4-5 overall, 2-1 in GNAC play and 2-0 in the South Division, while the Wildcats fell to 4-6 on the year, 1-3 in conference play and 0-2 in the South Division.

KEY MOMENTS 

• The Blue Jays wasted no time scoring the opening goal, as sophomore face-off man Benjamin Bausch (Holliston, Mass.) won the opening faceoff before running down the field and firing a shot into the net, establishing a 1-0 edge at the 14:48 mark.
• USJ continued to dominate the opening stanza, as graduate student midfielder Aidan D'Amato (Tolland, Conn.) picked out a pass to senior midfielder Christian Decker (Bristol, Conn.) who rifled the ball into the net, increasing the gap to 2-0 with 13:38 on the clock.
• Graduate student midfielder Kevin Carr (West Hartford, Conn.) would get his name on the scoresheet at the 11:42 mark, before D'Amato found the back of the net himself to increase the gap to 4-0 with 9:18 left in the first.
• The Blue Jays continued to dominate, as Carr would score on a man-up chance, before sophomore midfielder Brenden Tedeschi (Orange, Vt.) and graduate student attack Evan Baden (Burlington, Conn.) tallied strikes of their own, increasing the lead to 7-0 at the 1:32 mark.
• JWU would put an end to the run with a goal with two seconds remaining the quarter, as USJ held a 7-1 advantage after the opening quarter.
• The Blue Jays continued to roll though in the second quarter, as Baden and sophomore attack Matthew Wurszt (Wilbraham, Mass.) scored back-to-back goals increasing the lead to 9-1 at the 4:07 mark.
• JWU would find the back of the net at the 2:51 mark, but Carr beat the buzzer with an over the shoulder goal with two seconds left in the half, to extend the USJ edge to 10-2 entering the halftime break.
• Wurszt would find the back of the net again in the third quarter, but JWU would cancel out the goal with a strike of their own, as the Blue Jays maintained an eight-goal edge, 11-3, entering the fourth quarter.
• Carr rounded out his strong day with his fourth goal at the 13:03 mark in the fourth, before senior midfielder Evan Zimnoch (Southington, Conn.) scored his first goal of the season to increase the lead to 13-3.
• The Wildcats would score at the 9:05 mark, but the deficit proved too much as USJ secured the victory, 13-4.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Carr paced the team with four goals on the day.
• Bausch netted his first career goal.
• D'Amato dished out a team-high two assists.
• Basuch tallied a team-best eight ground balls.
• He also served as the main face-off man, posting a 8-for-12 mark at the "X". As a team, the Blue Jays went 15-of-20 on faceoffs.
• Graduate student Trey McCann (Simsbury, Conn.) got the win for USJ (4-5) after tallying eight saves in 57:14 minutes of action.
• Sophomore Noah Isleib (Easton, Mass) played the remaining 2:46 in the cage, recording two saves.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays make the trek to Standish, Maine for an inter-divisional matchup against Saint Joseph's (Me.) on Saturday, April 5. Opening faceoff against the Monks at the SJC Athletics Complex in Standish, Maine is set for 1:00 p.m.

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