NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University men's lacrosse team closed out the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) regular season in emphatic fashion on Monday afternoon, overwhelming Colby-Sawyer College, 19-1, on Sabine Field at Haynes Family Stadium.

The Cadets finished the conference slate with a 7-4 record, using a dominant opening half and balanced production throughout the lineup to secure one of their most complete efforts of the season.

Jake Marcotte (Old Orchard Beach, Maine) led the Norwich attack with five points on two goals and three assists, reaching the 100-point mark for his collegiate career in the process. Parker Fleury (Nashua, N.H.) added three points on a goal and two assists, while Jack Ryan (Haymarket, Va.) also tallied three points behind two goals and an assist.

Wes Emerson (Cheshire, Mass.) and Jack Badams (South Strafford, Vt.) each posted two points on a goal and an assist, while David Gosselin (South Burlington, Vt.) and Nicholas Wolfgang (New Port Richey, Fla.) supplied two assists apiece.  Drew Fleury (Nashua, N.H.), Robbie McAllister (Amherst, Mass.), and Christian Rainis (Wynantskill, N.Y.) each scored twice, while Noah St. Germaine (Plymouth, Mass.), Nick Koutsoukounis (Worcester, Mass.), Harrison Poquette (South Burlington, Vt.), Ryan McGorry (Hingham, Mass.), Case MacDonald (Burke, Va.), and Alex Johnston (Franklin, Tenn.) each found the back of the net once.  AJ Moniz, V (Middletown, R.I.), Carter Veronneau (St. Albans, Vt.), and Jackson Forbes (Merrimack, N.H.) each chipped in an assist.

Norwich wasted no time asserting itself, exploding for 11 goals in the opening quarter to put the game out of reach early.  Rainis opened the scoring off a Forbes feed just 1:43 into the contest, and Fleury followed 13 seconds later on a Marcotte helper.  Marcotte then scored one of his own off a Moniz assist before Rainis struck again from Marcotte to make it 4-0.

The Cadets kept pouring it on from there.  Johnston finished a pass from Gosselin, McAllister converted on the extra-man opportunity from Marcotte, and Fleury scored again off a Wolfgang assist.  Marcotte added his second goal of the quarter, with MacDonald, McAllister, and McGorry later joining the scoring barrage as Norwich raced ahead, 11-0, through the opening 15 minutes.

That momentum carried into the second quarter.  Poquette opened the frame with a man-down goal off a Veronneau assist, Ryan added a man-up tally, and St. Germaine finished from Emerson with 1:34 left in the half as the Cadets entered the break with a commanding 14-0 lead.

Norwich continued to control the run of play after halftime.  Parker Fleury scored early in the third quarter, followed by an unassisted strike from Badams.  Ryan and Koutsoukounis then connected on back-to-back tallies, with Ryan setting up the latter, as the Cadets pushed the margin to 18-0 through three periods.

Emerson added Norwich's final goal midway through the fourth quarter before Colby-Sawyer broke through for its lone tally with 5:52 to play.

The Cadets dominated in nearly every statistical area, holding a 55-13 edge in shots and a 29-5 advantage in shots on goal . Norwich also finished 18-for-21 on clear attempts while limiting Colby-Sawyer to a 13-for-27 mark, won the ground ball battle by a 61-25 margin, and controlled faceoffs, 16-6.  Norwich converted 2-of-3 extra-man opportunities, while the Chargers went 0-for-5.

Emerson led Norwich with 10 ground balls, while St. Germaine followed with nine.  Koutsoukounis and Ryder Spiers (Virginia Beach, Va.) added six apiece, and Mark Chu (Amston, Conn.) was outstanding at the faceoff X, winning 16 of 21 draws while collecting five ground balls.  The 61 ground balls marked Norwich's highest single-game total since recording 61 against Vermont State University Castleton on Apr. 6, 2023.

Defensively, Norwich generated 15 caused turnovers, led by four from St. Germaine and three from Seamus Brown (Canton, Mass.).

In goal, Nicholas Squatrito (Peterborough, N.H.) earned his first win of the season after making one save in more than 25 minutes of action.  Mason Dils (Watervliet, N.Y.) drew the start and played the full first quarter, while Jameson Hart (New Gloucester, Maine) closed the contest with nearly 20 minutes in the crease and three saves.

Norwich now turns its attention to the GNAC Tournament, which is slated to begin on Saturday, Apr. 25.  The Cadets have secured a postseason berth behind their 7-4 conference mark and will await the conclusion of Tuesday's regular season action to learn their quarterfinal opponent, location, and game time.