Portland, ME – Husson led early 4-2, but ended up falling to St. Joseph's College 14-4 in a non-conference men's lacrosse game at Deering Memorial Stadium on Tuesday. It was the season-opener for both teams, and St. Joseph's stands at 1-0, while Husson starts out 0-1.

With the help of goals from Jake Ricciardi (Sharon, MA) and freshman attackman Austin Watts (Westbrook, ME), the Monks held a 2-1 edge five minutes into play. The Eagles responded with three straight scores, including a pair from junior midfielder Chris DelGiudice (Oakland, ME) and carried a 4-2 advantage heading into the second quarter.

Unfortunately for the visitors, the latter DelGiudice marker—scored 11:42 into the contest—would be their last goal of the evening as the Monks managed to hold the Eagles off the scoreboard for the remaining 48:18 of the game.

Senior Monks midfielder Jordan Grant (Windsor, ME) drew his team within one with his first goal of the season, off a Jake O'Brien (Andover, MA) feed, and Ricciardi knotted the contest at four-apiece with a man-up tally over eight minutes later. With the clock winding down towards intermission, Saint Joseph's proceeded to net four goals in the closing three minutes of the second quarter to secure an 8-4 lead heading into the break.

The third quarter featured little offense, as sophomores Max Meserve (Kennebunk, ME) and Dalton Eldridge (South Gardiner, ME) found the back of the cage for the Monks to make it a 10-4 contest going into the final frame. Saint Joseph's managed to ice the game with four insurance scores in the fourth quarter, as Eldridge scored twice while Ricciardi and Hamill added a goal apiece to account for the 14-4 final.

For Husson, Delgiudice scored twice and junior defender Mark Nardelli (Norwood, MA) scooped up a team-high six ground balls. Senior goalkeeper John Hooper III (Wakefield, RI) made 13 saves in 56:54 between the pipes and suffered the loss while junior keeper Eric Lund (Mansfield, MA) did not face a shot in 3:06 minutes of play.

For Saint Joseph's, Eldridge tallied a hat trick with three goals, Meserve had a goal and four assists, and Hamill added two goals and a pair of helpers. Junior face-off specialist Ahmed Dorghoud (Alexandria, VA) also played a vital role in the victory, winning 15 of 19 face-off attempts while collecting a game-high seven ground balls on the evening. Senior goalkeeper Christopher Driscoll (Saco, ME) came up with four stops.

For St. Joe's, the victory over Husson is the first in five tries versus the Eagles, a team that had outscored the Monks by a 38-12 margin combined over the last three meetings, including a 10-4 win last spring.

The Eagles will move forward in their season to host Anna Maria College next Wednesday at 4:00 PM. St. Joseph's is set to host Salem State University on Saturday at 1:00 PM.