NORTHFIELD, Vt. - In one of the most significant games of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) regular season and in front of a packed Haynes Family Stadium, the Norwich University men's lacrosse team celebrated their Senior Day in a victorious display, taking down the Monks of Saint Joseph's College, 14-10, on Saturday afternoon on Sabine Field.

A staggering 11 different Cadets found the back of the net, spearheaded by two-goal performances from the triumvirate of Drew Fleury (Nashua, N.H.), Jack Haley (Falkville, Ala.), and Mitchell McKay (Lynnfield, Mass.).  David Myers (Hainesport, N.J.), Duncan Youngclaus (Middleboro, Mass.), Matt Meehan (Norfolk, Mass.), Tyler Seidel (Centreville, Md.), Christian Masonius (Belmar, N.J.), Mason McMahon (Norwich, Conn.), Christian Rainis (Wynantskill, N.Y.), and Coley Bagwell (York, Pa.) all provided a tally apiece, rounding out an all-around fiery offensive showcase.

The Monks put themselves on the board first in quick succession, posting back-to-back tallies in a 16-second span just two minutes into the contest.  After a defensive stalemate over the ensuing six minutes, Norwich finally found the nylon, rattling off four-straight scores to close the stanza, with Seidel, McKay, and Rainis combining for the first three before Masonius found Fleury for a score in the waning seconds.

Nathaniel Girardin logged the first of his game-high four goals for Saint Joseph's out of the intermission to trim Norwich's edge, and again struck at the six-minute mark after Fleury answered his initial goal.  However, the Cadets seized momentum ahead of halftime as McMahon and Myers sniped in goals that shifted the game's flow significantly.

Norwich had a response for nearly every Monk goal in the second half, as Haley bookended Matt Denman's attempt to provide Saint Joseph's with some rhythm, drilling in a pair before Meehan added his score to double-up the Monks, 10-5.

While Saint Joseph's whittled the lead down courtesy of two scores, the Cadets again halted the Monks' advance on goals from Youngclaus and McKay.  The Monks were able to get three more in between the pipes, but insurance goals from Masonius and Bagwell sealed the deal.

The Cadets hauled in 46 ground balls while winning 15 face-offs, all stemming from Thomas Muraski (Keller, Texas).  Norwich finished 21-27 on clear attempts, allowing just 16 successful clears from the Monks.

Luke Boland (Tolland, Conn.) continued his undefeated record on the year, moving to 4-0 this season after making 10 saves in 60 minutes of action.

The vigorous Norwich defense generated 20 Monk turnovers, spearheaded by six from McMahon, while Joshua McQuinn (Milton, Vt.) and Matthew Hannon (Milford, N.H.) logged three and two, respectively.

At halftime of today's critical GNAC showdown, the men's lacrosse program honored their legendary graduating class of 16 seniors, including Matt Meehan, Jack Haley, Gavin Youngclaus (Middleboro, Mass.), Aaron Broom (Rye, N.H.), Jase Stapleford (Smyrna, Del.), Tyler Seidel, Luke Boland, Mason McMahon, Thomas Kelliher (Shrewsbury, Mass.), Thomas Muraski, Joshua McQuinn, Matthew Hannon, William Sabo (Pennington, N.J.), James Magee (Concord, N.H.), Mitchell McKay, and Coley Bagwell.  In their four seasons, the 2024 class have combined for 276 goals, 143 assists, 1,293 ground balls, 269 saves, 836 face-offs won, 42 victories, one GNAC Championship, and one NCAA Tournament victory.

The Cadets, who sit atop the GNAC's North Division with an unblemished 5-0 conference record and 3-0 divisional record, will now look ahead to a make-up GNAC duel with rival Lasell University in Newton, Mass., on Tuesday, Apr. 9, scheduled for 4:00 p.m.  Norwich then returns home to host Johnson & Wales University on Saturday, Apr. 13.