NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's lacrosse team will wrap up its season series against the University of St. Joseph (Conn.) on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The contest will be the final regular-season home game of the year and will serve as the Cadets OneLove game. Norwich currently stands in second place in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference at 4-1 while St. Joseph (Conn.) sits in a three-way tie for fourth place at 2-2.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be just the 3rd meeting between the two programs dating back to last season when the Cadets ungraciously opened the series with a 13-0 win. The Cadets captured another victory in their game earlier this season to remain undefeated thus far.
LAST MEETING
The teams last met in a game two weeks ago on April 3, which saw the Cadets double up the Blue Jays 14-7 victory on the road. No one was stopping Norwich's senior Payden Masaracchia who netted a whopping nine goals on ten shots on goal for the game. Freshman Mitchell McKay and junior Parker Campbell each added two goals with Campbell tallying a trio of assists. Senior Owen LaPorte and sophomore Noah Mocksfield each notched a pair of goals for USJ in the loss.
SCOUTING THE BLUE JAYS
St. Joseph (3-3, 2-2 GNAC) has been idle since hosting Norwich back on April 3. For the year, the Blue Jays have averaged 11.7 goals per game while giving up 10.2. The Blue Jays rank fourth in the GNAC in shots (319) but are dead last in shots on goal percentage (51.1%). Defensively, USJ ranks in the top three in goal-against-average (10.17) and save percentage (56.7%).
The Blue Jays' leading scorer is LaPorte who has tallied 21 goals and four assists. Freshman Ryan Paltauf leads the team in points (9G, 18A). while Mocksfield has contributed 11 goals. Freshman Samuel Barbetti ranks third in the conference in face-off percentage (58.0%) among those with 75 or more attempts. Sophomore goalie Trey McCann has provided the Blue Jays with excellent production in net posting a 58.1 save percentage while allowing a 10.21 GAA.
SCOUTING THE CADETS
Norwich (5-2, 4-1 GNAC) is coming off a 12-6 win against Rivier on Thursday evening. Through seven games, the Cadets have utilized quality defense to limit opponents to just a 53.9 percent SOG percentage while surrendering 8.57 goals per game. The offense has tallied 13.86 goals per game while registering a .620 shots on goal percentage.
Graduate Jack Anzalone has been one of the main offensive contributors of Norwich's classic well-balanced attack scoring 17 goals and assisting on 13 others. Masaracchia leads the team in goals with 23 while Campbell and senior Russell Gilligan have each scored 12 goals on the year. Defensively, the Cadets have been stingy on allowing quality scoring opportunities pressuring with man defense. Senior Sean Wallace and freshman Mason McMahon lead the unit as two of the top five defenders in caused turnovers with 17 and 10, respectively. Senior goalie Nick Kandra leads the GNAC with 7.95 goals-against-average.
LIVE COVERAGE
Due to safety precautions this season, no spectators will be allowed at the athletic facilities, however, the game will be live-streamed on the Norwich Broadcast Network.
UP NEXT
Norwich will hit the road for back-to-back games to close out its GNAC schedule starting with another game at Lasell on Tuesday at 4 p.m. That game could have a great impact on postseason play with Lasell leading the standings with Norwich right behind it.
