The twin-duo of juniors Mike (10 goals) and Joe Baglio (10 goals, 4 assists) help the Quinnipiac Men’s Lacrosse team to its best start since 1993 with three straight wins to begin the season.
Mike Baglio tallied the game-winning goal with one minute remaining against Marist (9-8) and the Braves easily handled Virginia Military Institute (VMI) 13-5 over spring break, to improve to 3-0 in the young season. However, the most important victory was the season-opening upset over a highly touted St. Joseph’s squad.
The Baglio brothers combined with the teams only senior, attacker Alan LoGuidice (7 goals), to score all 16 goals in the four-goal victory (16-12) for the Quinnipiac Men’s Lacrosse team over St. Joseph’s in Pennsylvania.
Despite traveling to Finnessey Field, the Braves came out strong and with three first quarter goals by LoGuidice, which allowed them to open up an early 6-2 lead, shocking the hometown Hawks. St. Joseph’s hadn’t lost a game in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) since 1999 and weren’t about to be blown out in their first game of 2001.
Sparked by the play of Ryan McNeil (5 goals) and Chris Spay (3 goals, 2 assists), the Hawks countered with five unanswered goals to take a 7-6 lead with a little more than a minute remaining in the first half.
Quinnipiac bounced back and regained the momentum when LoGuidice tallied his fourth first-half goal, and the two teams headed into the second half with the score knotted at seven.
Quinnipiac picked up where it left off by applying immense pressure to the St. Joseph’s defense. The Baglio brothers proceeded to outscore the Hawks 4-1 in the third, and the Braves headed into the final quarter with an 11-8 advantage that they would never relinquish.
Three more goals to start the fourth by LoGuidice all but ensured a Quinnipiac victory by putting them up 14-9. One last surge by St. Joseph’s cut the lead to three, but Mike Baglio put to rest any hopes of a Hawks comeback and capped off the scoring with two goals in the final three minutes to seal the victory for Quinnipiac.
After an off year in 2000 (15 points), LoGuidice is off to a fast start as his seven goals were a career high and fell just one short of a new Quinnipiac single game goal-scoring record. He now has 102 points in his career; placing him among the top three in the history of Quinnipiac Men’s Lacrosse. He has some familiar company on that list as both Baglio brothers rank in the top 10 on the all-time list.
During a recent training session, the twin captains were asked what they thought of the team coming into the season. “It’s still early, but I think we are looking pretty good this spring,” Mike Baglio commented. His brother was quick to support him, “We feel we have a pretty good chance of winning the [conference] title,” Joe added.
Both backed up their words in the season-opener and the Braves were indeed impressive. Despite losing the majority of the face-off and ground ball battles, the Braves outlasted one of the toughest MAAC opponents.
With nine of its top 10 leading scorers returning, Quinnipiac is primed for a breakout year in just its third season of Division I play. “We have several talented players back this season, many of those compose our junior class and have started for two seasons,” fourth year head coach Tim Price said. “As a result, experience under pressure and hard work will be the keys on whether we get to post-season play.”
Reaching the post season is the primary goal for the 2001 Braves. They are headed in the right direction as they are looking to improve to 5-0 this weekend at home against Providence and Wagner this weekend.