NEWTON, Mass.—The Norwich University men's lacrosse team fought off a late charge by the Saints of Emmanuel (Mass.) College to post a narrow 7-6 win in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action on Sunday afternoon.

With the win, the Cadets improve to 2-3 overall and 2-0 in GNAC action, while the loss drops the Saints to 2-5 overall and 0-2 in league play.

Ryan McCarthy (Medford, Mass.) totaled two goals and an assist for the Cadets, while Mike Lavery (Penacook, N.H.) chipped in with two goals.  Arron Canarelli (New Hartford, N.Y.) and Ian Mendoza (Mount Airy, Md.) both totaled a goal and an assist.  Seth Fuller (Wheaton, Ill.) netted a single goal.

Trailing 7-3 with less than five minutes left to play, Emmanuel posed a comeback by scoring three goals in a span of 2:02, beginning with a goal by Ryan Sabuda at the 3:01 mark. Emmanuel followed this goal with goals by Chris Curtis and Evan Dolber at the 1:26 and 59-second marks of the game.

The Saints had an opportunity to tie the score and force overtime as they had the final possession of the game, but the first shot attempt went wide. A Norwich penalty gave the Saints a second opportunity with 1.2 seconds left on the clock, but the Saints were unable to work a shot in the limited time.  

Emmanuel struck first on the afternoon as Kaile MacLean-Daley gave the Saints the 1-0 lead with 13:02 left to play in the first quarter.  The Cadets evened the score less than a minute later as McCarthy set Canarelli up for the equalizer at the 12:05 mark. Norwich would take the lead just over five minutes later as McCarthy notched a man-up goal. 

Fuller extended the lead to 3-1 with an unassisted goal at the 3:52 mark, and the Cadets carried the two-goal advantage to the second quarter.

Emmanuel's Dolber opened the second quarter with a goal at 11:57 to bring the Saints within one, but Mendoza and Lavery netted back-to-back goals at 11:50 and 9:14 to bring the score to 5-2. Emmanuel tacked on a final goal of the half with 7:56 left to play to set the 5-3 halftime score.

After a scoreless third period, Norwich took a four-goal lead in the fourth quarter as Lavery and McCarthy scored at the 13:19 and 5:43 marks.

Dolber totaled two goals and an assist for the Saints. Sabuda and Curtis both tallied a goal and an assist. Michael Rodgers totaled a game-high six caused turnovers for Emmanuel.  

Norwich goaltender Mark Paradiso (Westford, Mass.) totaled ten saves en route to his second-straight win in net.  Emmanuel netminder Austin Lauzier recorded 14 saves on the afternoon, as the Cadets posted a 21-16 shots-on-goal advantage and a 41-32 total shots advantage.

Face-off specialist Nate Fortezzo (Branford, Conn.) won 12 of 16 attempts on the afternoon for Norwich and totaled a game-high seven ground balls.

Norwich returns to action on Tuesday, March 26 as the team travels to Becker College for a 7:00 p.m. non-conference matchup.