THE BASICS 

Score: 
Emmanuel College, 11
New England College, 8

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (1-0, 0-0 GNAC)
New England College Pilgrims (1-2, 0-0 NECC)

Location: Henniker, N.H. – Don Melander Field

Date: Wednesday, March 2, 2022

THE LEAD – Junior goalie Randy Castle (Boxford, Mass.) recorded 15 saves to fuel Emmanuel College past New England College, 11-8, in non-conference men's lacrosse action on Wednesday afternoon in Henniker, N.H. The Saints notch a season-opening victory for the first time since 2015 while the Pilgrims fall to 1-2 in the early goings of the 2022 campaign.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• EC jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a pair of first quarter goals by junior Drew Chant (Warwick, R.I.) while sophomore Thomas Quigley (Marblehead, Mass.) and junior Ryan Castle (Boxford, Mass.) each added a score. The second score by Chant as well as Ry. Castle's first tally of the day were both man-up scores.
• After nearly 23 minutes of holding NEC scoreless, Connor Smith (Oakland, Maine) found the back of the net to get the Pilgrims on the board with 7:37 to play in the half to make it 4-1. Smith's goal ignited a four-goal spurt by the hosts over the next four minutes to help NEC even the score at 4-4 with 3:42 left in the second on a goal by Devon Saeger (Chester Springs, Penn).
• EC senior Colin Dickinson (Barre, Vt.) gave the visitors the lead back with a huge unassisted goal with just 23 seconds to play in the half to give the Saints a 5-4 lead heading into the halftime intermission.
• Junior Derek DelVecchio (Saugus, Mass.) netted his first goal of the campaign to bump the lead to 6-4 but Smith answered with goals to close the third quarter and open the fourth to even the score at 6-6 with 13:46 to play in regulation.
• Chant and Quigley helped the Saints regain the lead for good with goals in the fourth at the 10:11 and 7:28 markers to move Emmanuel on top 8-6.
• The Pilgrims cut the lead to one a 9-8 on a man-up score by TJ Nong (Baltimore, Md.) but Ry. Castle's second goal of the afternoon with 1:45 made it a 10-8 score before Dickinson iced the win with his second goal of the contest with 32 seconds to play to account for the 11-8 final.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Both teams attempted 38 shots on the day with the Saints landing 24 on frame compared to 23 on frame by NEC.
• Castle picked up the win in net making 15 stops to improve to 1-0 on the year while Connor Almstrom (Cumberland, R.I.) made 10 stops and falls to 0-2 in goal for New England College.
• The Pilgrims dominated the faceoff circle in the loss as Quint Bartush (Norwalk, Conn.) won 22 of 23 attempts in the center circle, grabbing a game-high 15 groundballs.
• EC was efficient on the clear, converting 23 of 27 attempts including a perfect 7-for-7 in the pivotal third quarter.
• Emmanuel also won the turnover battle on the day, committing 15 compared to 22 by NEC.
• The last time EC opened a campaign with a "W" came back on February 25, 2015 when the Saints topped Gordon College, 13-12.

UP NEXT

• Emmanuel returns to action on Friday, March 4 when they head down the road to take on Wentworth Institute of Technology at 4:00 PM at Sweeney Field.
• NEC is idle until Sunday, March 6 when they take on Alfred in Sparks, Maryland at 6:00 PM.