JSC Lax Advances to NAC Semi's, Defeat Emerson 20-10
The attack trio of Billy Noyes (left), Matt Riani (middle), and Erik Tillberg combined for 11 goals and 11 assists on Saturday in the Badgers 20-10 North Atlantic Conference Quarterfinal win over Emerson College
JOHNSON, Vt. (April 25, 2009)
Johnson State College lacrosse accomplished a feat for the first time on Saturday by defeating Emerson College 20-10 in the North Atlantic Conference Quarterfinals on Saturday at Minaert Field and advancing to the NAC Semifinals on Wednesday. The fourth-seeded Badgers outshot the fifth-seeded Lions 64-24 on the day and dominated the groundball battle 82-36. The appearance was the first post-season birth in the NAC, a program that joined in the league in 2002.
Emerson (7-6, 5-4 NAC) made the most of their scoring opportunities early tallying three goals on their first five shots to take a 3-2 lead in the first period. Johnson (7-4, 6-3 NAC) would respond by outscoring Emerson 8-2 over the final 20 minutes of the first half and give the Badgers a 10-5 lead at halftime.
A 21-7 third quarter groundball advantage sparked a six-goal period for Johnson with two of those goals coming from freshman Alex Petti (East Greenwich, R.I./Greenwich).
Despite an outstanding effort from goalkeeper Patrick Curran (Framingham, Mass.) who made 33 stops on the day, Emerson could not slow the JSC offense on this day as four different players scored fourth period goals for Johnson en route to the 20-10 final.
JSC was paced by Erik Tillberg (Randolph, Vt./Randolph) and his six-goal, one-assist performance while Petti added four goals on the day. Senior Matt Riani (Jericho, Vt./Mount Mansfield) tallied three goals and three assists and junior Billy Noyes (Boston, Mass./Northeast Regional) added two goals and five assists.
Emerson saw senior Joe Greaney (Medfield, Mass.) scored four unassisted goals on the day to lead the Lion offensive charge while Axel Larson (Westford, Vt.) scored a pair of goals.
Branden Sawyer (East Greenwich, R.I./Greenwich) stopped seven Emerson shots and back-up Jeff Boesse (Moretown, Vt./Harwood) stopped one for Johnson State opposite Curran’s fine goalie performance.
The loss ends Emerson season at 7-6 overall while Johnson will move on to play the winner of #1 seed Castleton and #8 St. Joseph’s of Maine on Wednesday. The site and time are still to be determined.