Monks Rally Past Chargers, 8-7

Recap, photo courtesy of SJC

STANDISH, Maine – Junior Maddy Beaulieu (West Gardiner, Maine) scored a man-up goal with 1:03 remaining in regulation to lift Saint Joseph's College (1-2, 1-0 GNAC) past Colby-Sawyer College (1-1, 1-1 GNAC), 8-7, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's lacrosse game at the SJC Athletics Complex on Wednesday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Trailing by a 7-4 score midway through the second half, the Monks rattled off four unanswered goals to clinch the thrilling victory. Sophomore Liz Callahan kicked off the scoring string with a man-up tally at the 16:09 mark, Beaulieu hit pay dirt at the 14:44 mark, and senior Kayla Kelly (York, Maine) knotted the game at 7-7 with 9:07 left to play.

Both teams had chances to take the lead on free-position attempts late in the contest, as junior keeper Kaylin Mansir (West Gardiner, Maine) turned away a Sarah Morin (Pelham, N.H.) close-range shot with 5:14 left and a bid by SJC freshman Logan Champlin (Alfred, Maine) taken at the 1:25 mark sailed high.

TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (28-18), ground balls (29-25) and draw controls (12-6) on the evening.

THE KEEPERS:
Mansir, who entered the game at the start of the second half, earned the victory after making four saves and allowing just one goal in 30 minutes. Freshman Madelyn Nelson (Casco, Maine) notched four stops in the first half.
Colby-Sawyer junior Kailyn Lapham (Medway, Mass.) turned away eight shots in the losing effort.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Beaulieu tallied two goals and an assist with five ground balls and two caused turnovers
• Sophomore Lydia Dexter (Oakland, Maine) posted a goal and an assist with a game-high eight draw controls
• Senior Kara Kelly (York, Maine) added two assists, three ground balls, three caused turnovers, and two draw controls

LEADERS – COLBY-SAWYER:

• Senior Brittany Ireland (Amherst, N.H.) scored two goals with three ground balls
• Sophomore Briana Couture (South Hadley, Mass.) netted a pair of goals with two ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers
• Sophomore Madison Johansson (Stratham, N.H.) picked up three ground balls with four caused turnovers

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
Tonight's matchup between the Monks and Chargers was the first-ever between the institutions' women's lacrosse teams.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will host GNAC-rival University of Saint Joseph on Saturday at 3:00 PM.