Men’s Lacrosse Doubles Up STAC at Home

Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)

Patchogue, NY| Senior Josh Shaw registered three goals and added four helpers as the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's lacrosse team defeated NCAA Division II side St. Thomas Aquinas College (STAC) 12-6 at Danzi Stadium on Tuesday evening.

With the win the Golden Eagles improve to 2-1 overall on the year as the Spartans slip to 2-2.

Shaw, who now leads SJC with 15 points, registered a total of eight shots in the contest and led all players with seven points.

Senior Scott Reece went for three goals to bring his season total to a Skyline Conference best 12, while juniors Casey Hickey and Jack Murray tallied twice apiece.  

Freshman Chris Nielsen opened the scoring 2:03 into the contest before Murray doubled the hosts' lead just over two minutes later with his fifth goal of the season.

Murray found the twine again with 3:40 to play in the first and Shaw's mark with less than one minute to play ensured SJC entered the second quarter up 4-0.

STAC matched St. Joseph's two goals in the second quarter, but after halftime the Golden Eagles opened the floodgates and kicked off a 5-0 run that featured goals from Reece (2), Hickey (2) and Shaw to go ahead 11-2.

The Spartans would rattle off four of the game's final five tallies but it would not be enough as SJC rode out a 12-6 victory.

St. Joseph's outshot STAC 35-26 but ground ball totals were even at 25 apiece. SJC also held marginal edges in both caused turnovers (9-7) and faceoffs (11-10).

Starting goalie Andrew Yoli made four saves on eight shots in 52:25 of playing time before he was replaced by fellow freshman Jared Velez, who made five saves in his collegiate debut.

The Golden Eagles return to action on Friday, March 10 when they head to Scranton, PA to face Marywood University in a non-conference contest at 5:00pm. Live stats for the game will be available here.