THE BASICS
Score: University of Saint Joseph 12, Dean College 10
Records: University of Saint Joseph (2-1), Dean College (1-1)
Location: Grant Field, Franklin, Mass.
Date: Thursday, March 5, 2020
Time: 3:00 PM

THE LEAD:
Anthony Lupo led eight different goal scorers with three scores and an assist and visiting University of Saint Joseph held off a late rally from Dean College to post a 12-10 win in non-league men's lacrosse action on Thursday afternoon.

The Bluejays, who are in their first year of existence, win the program's first-ever road game and improve to 2-1.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
USJ opened the game up on fire, racing out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter as Lupo scored twice and three others found the back of the net, including tallies from Nick Grant and Jayme Hollimion a little more than 90 seconds apart.

Dean finally woke up in the second quarter and scored four straight times as Greg Centeio (Fairhaven, Mass.), Tyler Minor (Warwick, R.I.) Christopher Wendt (Boonton, N.J.) and Christian Billingsley (Saugus, Mass.) all registered goals.

Another stretch of runs opened the second half with the Bluejays running off four in a row in less than four minutes to seize momentum and push their lead to 9-4.

The Bulldogs started to cut into that deficit when Wendt setup Jonathan Kroposki (Hollis, N.H.) before the third period ended and then Kroposki connected with Louis Piccolo (Foxboro, Mass.) to get the Cardinal and White to within three with less than ten minutes to play in the game.

Lupo gave USJ some breathing room with his third of the game, but a man-up score from Matthew Pacheco (Warwick, R.I.) was followed by another Centeio strike, made the game, 10-8.

The Bluejays, however, wasted little time answering back as Evan Baden and Joe Boland scored goals less than a minute apart to give USJ a four goal advantage with five minutes to play.

Dean did get two more goals – one each from Kroposki and Centeio – but they would get no closer as USJ held on for the win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
Kroposki had a huge day offensively for Dean, ending with two goals and four assists, while Billingsley totaled a goal and two assists. Meanwhile, Minor, Piccolo and Wendt all had a goal and an assist.

UP NEXT:
Dean is off until Sunday when they travel to Thomas College for a 1:00 PM faceoff.