Providence College Wins 2007 MAAC Men's Lacrosse Championship
MAAC Sports
Emmitsburg, Md. -- Fourth-seeded Providence College defeated third-seeded Saint Joseph's University, 9-4, in the championship game of the 2007 MAAC Men's Lacrosse Championship at the Waldron Family Stadium on the campus of Mount St. Mary's University.
With the win, Providence earned the league's automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship. The bracket will be announced tonight on ESPNU between 9:00-10:00 p.m. and ESPNews between 9:15-10:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Steve Varga got the Hawks on the scoreboard first with a goal at the 10:01 mark of the first quarter. The Friars' Michael Farley then put his squad on the board with an unassisted goal with 4:35 left in the first stanza to tie it at 1-1. Farley scored again less than a minute later, with the help of Bennett Murphy, to put Providence ahead, 2-1.
Providence started its offensive effort in the second quarter with Bobby Labadini netting a shot at the 13:55 mark. Saint Joseph's Alex McColough responded and pulled the Hawks within one (3-2) with his first goal on the day with 12:52 left in the first half. But the Friars went ahead, 4-2, with a goal by Murphy, off a pass from Brendan Ryan, with 10:46 remaining in the quarter. Mark Bundra added another goal for Providence, thanks to a pass from Labadini, with 2:07 to go to give the Friars a 5-2 lead going into halftime.
Devin McBride kicked off the Friars' scoring for the second half, netting a goal off a shot from Ryan just eight seconds into the third quarter to put his squad up, 6-2. The duo paired up again for another goal at the 9:01 mark to put their team up, 7-2. Murphy then added a goal, with help from Labadini, with just 1.1 second in the third stanza to give Providence an 8-2 lead.
Robert Lamontagne went on to score his first goal on the day three minutes into the fourth quarter for the Friars, aided by McBride (9-2). With 9:34 left to play, Mike O'Neill knocked in a shot from Alex Lopes to record Saint Joseph's third goal of the day (9-3). Varga added one more goal for the Hawks with 57.4 seconds left, aided by Steve O'Brien. Providence then maintained possession of the ball in the final seconds of the contest to give the Friars their third MAAC title in four years.
Peter Littell tallied eight stops between the pipes for Providence. Eric Hotaling recorded nine saves for Saint Joseph's.
Providence's James Courter was named Most Outstanding Player. Joining Courter on the All-Tournament Team are teammates Littell and Ryan, along with Saint Joseph's O'Neill, McColough and Zach Charles, Canisius College's Angus Dineley and Kiel Illg, and Siena College's Faus Bernabo and Matt Donovan.
Recap:
Providence (6-9, 5-3 MAAC) 2 3 3 1 -- 9
Saint Joseph's (6-11, 5-3 MAAC) 1 1 0 2 -- 4
Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists): Providence - Bennett Murphy (2-1), Devin McBride (2-1), Michael Farley (2-0), Bobby Labadini (1-2), Mark Bundra (1-0), Robert Lamontagne (1-0), Brendan Ryan (0-3)
Saint Joseph's -Steve Varga (2-0), Alex McColough (1-0), Mike O'Neill (1-0), Alex Lopes (0-1), Steve O'Brien (0-1)
Saves: Providence - Peter Littell 8; Saint Joseph's - Eric Hotaling 9
Shots: Providence 32, Saint Joseph's 24
Groundballs: Saint Joseph's 26, Providence 24
Turnovers: Saint Joseph's 20, Providence 12
2007 MAAC All-Tournament Team
Canisius:
Angus Dineley
Kiel Illg
Siena:
Matt Donovan
Faus Bernabo
Saint Joseph's:
Mike O'Neill
Alex McColough
Zach Charles
Providence:
Peter Littell
Brendan Ryan
James Courter
Most Outstanding Player: James Courter, Providence