CANTON, N.Y. -- A fourth quarter shutout from third-seeded St. Lawence University men's lacrosse pushed the Saints to defeat third-seeded RPI for the second time this season in the Liberty League Semifinals on Friday afternoon at North Country Field. The Saints' 9-7 win advances them to the conference championship game for the first time since 2022.
Bobby Wells and Dan Anderson both had two goals on the day, while Henry Crean, Cam Croasdaile, Daniel Mahoney, and Jamie Rosenzweig each chipped in a goal. Sam Smith also got in the scoring action with his first career goal with the long pole, and Mahoney had a team-high two assists.
Defensively, Sam Wade and Quin Fedor each had two caused turnovers, and Padraic Condon tallied 10 faceoffs wins. Anderson led the team in ground balls with five.
RPI was the first to find a goal in the match, grabbing a 1-0 lead in just under two minutes. St. Lawrence responded with a three-goal run, with goals coming from Anderson, Crean, and Croasdaile for the Saints to go up by two. RPI's Erik Ojert ended the Saints' run shortly after to cut the deficit to one, 2-3 at the end of the first quater.
The Engineers started off the second quater by tying up the game at three. The Saints quickly took back the lead, as Wells and Smith each found the back of the net seven seconds apart to regain the team's two-goal lead. Almost 11 minutes later following the pair of goals, the Engineers were able to score and once again put themselves down by one as the half concluded.
RPI came out strong in the third quarter, posting a three-goal run to take their first lead of the day. Mahoney ended their run with his first of the game to put the Saints within one heading into the fourth.
Rosenzweig, Wells, and Anderson combined for a trio of goals in a row to put St. Lawrence back up by two with 5:41 left to go. The Saints held RPI scoreless in the fourth and closed out the game 9-7.
"What an awesome day for these guys," said head coach Mike Mahoney. "To run it back against the same team six days later just shows the heart and grit of this team. It was an amazing atmosphere and we really appreciate the Saints fans who gave us some extra juice when we needed it most. We look forward to the opportunity to compete for a championship on Sunday!"
St. Lawrence held the edge in caused turnovers (8-7), as the Engineers had the advantage in shots (21-15)
Michael Marinello recorded 14 saves for the Saints, while Joseph Parry had six saves for the Engineers.
The Saints punched their ticket to the Liberty League Championship, and will face op-seeded RIT in Rochester, N.Y. on Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m.