At the beginning of the season some people said they were too young and too inexperienced. Others simply said they weren’t that talented. Those critics have since been silenced. If by chance there were still skeptics about the unstoppable men’s lacrosse team at Quinnipiac, there aren’t anymore.
Two more weekend wins, the most notable one being over archrival Sacred Heart, moved them to an unprecedented 12-0 (9-0 in the MAAC) and clinched the MAAC regular season title for the first time in the school’s three-year history in the league.
After a convincing 26-9 victory over Holy Cross, the Braves were primed for their MAAC finale against Sacred Heart at Brave field. Sacred Heart was second in the MAAC coming into the contest and, as expected, pushed the Braves to the limit. The game went back and forth as neither team could gain a significant advantage, tied 7-7 at the half.
To start the second half, the Braves quickly stole the momentum with three quick strikes in the opening four minutes of the third quarter. Surprisingly, Sacred Heart didn’t collapse and despite being down, on the road as underdogs, they bounced back with two goals to cut the Quinnipiac lead to one. However, that was as close as they’d come for the remainder of the game.
Alan LoGuidice and Mike Baglio each added a goal in the final two minutes of the third quarter to give the Braves a three-goal lead. After playing the fourth quarter to a 1-1 draw, the Braves walked away with the 13-10 victory, and more importantly, the MAAC regular season championship.
Joe Baglio’s five points in the match gave him 62 for the season to lead the team and broke Quinnipiac’s all-time single-season record, previously 58 by Brian Perry in 1998.
The Baglio brothers received a lot of offensive help. Though still accounting for five goals and four assists, the twins were aided by the likes of freshman attacker Andy Pelletier and junior middy Jeff Speed (1 goal, 3 assists).
Pelletier was fresh off his Rookie of the Week Award and continued his tear. First with five goals and two assists against Holy Cross, then adding four goals including a couple at crucial moments to put away the visiting Pioneers. Eight different players figured in the scoring and T.J. Barnett made 16 saves in goal for Quinnipiac.
With two non-conference games remaining against Stony Brook and Hartford, Quinnipiac has already clinched the number-one seed in the upcoming MAAC Championships, and is looking to win its first every title the first week of May in Poughkeepsie, NY.