BOSTON, Mass. – May 2, 2023 – The fifth seed Dean College men's lacrosse team pushed top seed Emmanuel to overtime, but the Saints escaped with a 10-9 victory by scoring 46 seconds into the extra session of Tuesday night's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament semifinal matchup.

Dean ends its season at 10-6 after making the program's first appearance in the semifinals of the GNAC Tournament. Emmanuel (14-5) advances to the championship and will host sixth seed University of Saint Joseph (11-8) who upset second seed Lasell (11-7) tonight also by a 10-9 score in overtime.   

Trailing 9-6 late in the third quarter, the Bulldogs began their rally and would eventually tie the score with 6:26 left in the game on junior Diego Alvarez-Segee's (Saugus, Mass.) first goal of the game.

Each team had some chances down the stretch, but Dean senior goalie James Rollins (Old Lyme, Conn.) and Emmanuel keeper Randy Castle (Boxford, Mass.) kept the game knotted at 9-9 to send the game into overtime.

Emmanuel won the overtime faceoff and called a timeout to set up a play. Senior Drew Chant (Warwick, R.I.) had possession and sent a bouncer towards the goal that snuck in under the crossbar for the game-winner, 46 seconds into the overtime.

The teams went back-and-forth in the first quarter with three goals apiece. Emmanuel got on the board first but was answered by a Dean goal from sophomore Owen Brine (Lebanon, N.H.). The Saints then took a 2-1 lead before junior Tyler Benedetto (Jupiter, Fla.) won the ensuing faceoff and scored six seconds later to tie the game. First-year Cole Cloney (Medfield, Mass.) put the Saints on top again, but Dean answered once more with a tally by sophomore Jason Richard (Holden, Mass.).

Emmanuel went on top 6-4 with a 3-1 advantage in scoring in the second, including a pair by Ryan Castle (Boxford, Mass.).

Castle gave Emmanuel its biggest lead at 7-4 with a goal 13 seconds into the third quarter. Dean senior Greg Centeio (Fairhaven, Mass.) cut the deficit to a pair before the Saints retook a 3-goal advantage at 9:46. The teams traded the next two goals to keep the margin at three heading into the late stages of the third.

Brine led the way for Dean with two goals and an assist. Seven other Bulldogs found the scoring column. Junior Alec Speirs (Old Lyme, Conn.) registered two points on a goal and an assist. Benedetto had a goal, six ground balls and won 12-of-22 faceoffs.

Ryan Castle led the Saints with three goals and an assist, while Cloney finished with a hat trick.

Rollins finished with 14 saves for the Bulldogs, while Randy Castle had 17 saves in the win.

For their efforts in the quarterfinals and semifinals, Alvarez-Segee and Rollins were named to the All-Tournament Team.