NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's lacrosse team will host Anna Maria College in the opening round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament on Friday night at 7 p.m. The second-seeded Cadets earned home-field advantage for the quarterfinal game with a 7-3 overall record and a 5-2 mark in conference play. Anna Maria comes into the game as the seventh seed following a 2021 campaign which saw them go 1-7 overall and 1-6 in league contests.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 13th meeting between the two programs dating back to 2010 when the Cadets initiated the rivalry with a 10-6 win at a neutral site. The Cadets have been nearly flawless in the all-time matchup winning 11 of the 12 previous contests. Norwich has outscored the AMCATS 153-60 over time. This will be just the second time the teams will have met in the playoffs with Norwich earning a 16-2 win in the 2018 quarterfinal game.
LAST MEETING
The teams last met in a game on April 4, 2019, in which the Cadets emerged with a 12-5 victory on the road. The game was a defensive battle in the early going with the team's each netting just one goal through the first 15 minutes of play. Norwich then opened the flood gates in the second and third quarters outscoring the AMCATS 4-1 in each stanza and cruised to the win. Senior Payden Masaracchia posted a hat trick while adding an assist while junior Parker Campbell collected a pair of goals and two assists. Senior Nick Kandra made six saves in net to pick up the win.
SCOUTING THE AMCATS
Anna Maria ended its regular season with a 16-9 loss to Emmanuel at home last Saturday. The AMCATS' offense produced 9.25 goals per game this season while surrendering 14.50 goals per contest defensively. Senior Cameron Perry led the team with 21 goals ranking him 13th amongst the top scorers in the GNAC. Junior Eric Glover and freshman Ethan Quinn supported the offense by netting 14 and 12 goals, respectively. Glover is dangerous on the man advantage scoring four man-up goals to rank seventh in the conference. The AMCATS struggle defensively giving up the most goals per game in the GNAC and rank at or near the bottom in save percentage and manufacturing turnovers.
SCOUTING THE CADETS
Norwich is coming off a big 17-14 win against long-time rival New England College on Wednesday which saw the Cadets end a 22-game losing streak to the Pilgrims. The Cadets' high-powered offense registers 13.70 goals per game while its stingy defensive unit gives up just 9.23 goals per contest. Masaracchia's 33 goals lead the team and rank second in the GNAC while Campbell's 22 assists also rank second in the conference. Five other players have notched double-figure scoring on the year, including graduate Jack Anzalone who is second on the team with 22 markers. Norwich boasts the best man-up offense leading the conference with 23 such goals. Senior Russell Gilligan is second in the GNAC with eight man-up goals. Senior Sean Wallace and freshman Mason McMahon are the top defensive pairing in the league combined for 41 caused turnovers while Kandra leads the GNAC with an 8.62 goals-against-average in net.
LIVE COVERAGE
You can catch all of the action from tonight's game which will be live-streamed on the Norwich Broadcast Network featuring the voice of Norwich athletics, Tanner Acebo.
UP NEXT
Should Norwich win Friday's matchup, the Cadets would host the winner of the \quarterfinal game which pits #3 Rivier University against #6 Emmanuel College. Semifinal action is scheduled for Wednesday, May 5.
