FRANKLIN, Mass. – April 27, 2024 – The South Division second seed Dean College men's lacrosse team came back from multiple deficits to defeat North Division third seed Saint Joseph's (Maine), 14-12, in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) quarterfinals at a crowded Grant Field Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs (12-4), who avenged a 14-9 road loss to Saint Joseph's on April 9, will make a second consecutive appearance in the semifinals when they travel to North Division top seed Rivier on Wednesday. The Raiders, who defeated Dean 13-8 on March 25 in Nashua, advanced after a 16-3 win over Johnson & Wales. Saint Joseph's ends its season at 10-8.

Dean senior Alec Speirs (Old Lyme, Conn.) led all players with seven points on four goals and three assists. First-year Manny Alvarez-Segee (Saugus, Mass.) tallied four goals and an assist. Senior Diego Alvarez-Segee (Saugus, Mass.) and junior Owen Brine (Lebanon, N.H.) scored twice, while junior Jaden Wise (Belchertown, Mass.) contributed a goal and five ground balls.

Sophomore Tiger Hopkins (Leeds, Maine) led the Monks with four goals. Senior Tim Goodfellow (Wayland, Mass.) also posted four points on three goals and an assist. Xavier Michaud (Wales, Maine) and junior Tyler Moscato (West Haven, Conn.) contributed two goals apiece. Freshman Zander Kirk (Bath, Maine) won 15-of-26 faceoffs and picked up a game best 13 ground balls.

Dean first-year Elijah Beland (Augusta, Maine) made nine saves to pick up his 12th win of the season. Freshman Reed Wescott (Windham, Maine) finished with 11 saves in the loss.

The Monks opened the scoring, six minutes in the game, with a tally from Goodfellow. Saint Joseph's continued the momentum and received three goals from three different players to close the quarter with a 4-0 advantage.

Dean responded in the second with four consecutive goals to tie the game at the 7:45 mark. Manny Alvarez-Segee had two goals in the run. Michaud put the Monks back in front by a goal with his 57th of the season with 5:31 on the clock. The visitors held the 5-4 lead at the break.

Goodfellow gave Saint Joseph's a 2-goal edge by scoring 36 seconds into the third frame. The Bulldogs then took over with five-straight goals for a 9-6 lead. Brine scored both of his goals in that spurt. The Monks battled back to score twice and trim the lead to 9-8 with 6:08 to play in the quarter. The home team answered with two goals in the final two minutes, including a man-down tally from Speirs, for an 11-8 margin going into the final quarter.

In the fourth, Hopkins began the scoring to cut the deficit to a deuce. Manny Alvarez-Segee answered 25 seconds later to make the margin three again. He then scored six minutes later for a 13-9 lead. Six seconds later, Speirs notched his fourth of the game to put Dean on top by a 14-9 score. The Monks did not go quietly as they scored twice in a 32-second span to pull within three. They added a 12th goal with 3:23 on the clock, but Dean held them off the board for the remainder of the contest to secure the 14-12 GNAC quarterfinal victory.