LAKEWOOD, NJ (March 21, 2023) - Georgian Court Men's Lacrosse will finish up their non-conference portion of their schedule at home this week. 

Opponent 
St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans (3-3, 0-1 ECC)

Where
Lakewood, NJ - GCU Track and Field Complex

When
Wednesday, March 22 - 3 p.m.

How to Watch
• Tuesday's game is available to watch via a free-to-view broadcast on the Georgian Court portal of the CACC Digital Network powered by HUDL. Live stats are also available at gculions.com. 

Previously vs. St. Thomas Aquinas
• Georgian Court is unbeaten in their history against St. Thomas Aquinas. The Lions are a perfect 8-0. Their most wins without a loss against any opponent and their most outright wins against a single opponent.
• Things were no different last year at Georgian Court came away with an 18-5 win over the Spartans in Sparkill.
• The Lions led just 3-1 after one period, but scored 11 goals in the second and third periods to put the game away.
• Michael Ventresca totaled five goals while James Sanford added three.
• Sebastian Farah played 45 minutes in net allowing four goals for the win.

Last Time Out
• Georgian Court played yet another top-20 ranked opponent. This time they were on the road at Pace where the Setters came away with a 16-5 win.
• The Setters took a 7-0 lead after one quarter and the Lions could never recover.
• Vincent Giunta led GCU with two goals.
• Tallen Smith added a goal and an assist. 

Individual Milestones
• Michael Ventresca also needs four goals to become the Lions all-time leading goal scorer. 
• Joe Murphy needs three caused turnovers for 25.
• Five more face-off wins will get Justin Iannarone to 350.
• Daniel Burnham needs six points to get to 150. Two more man-up goals will also give him a share of the GCU all-time record and one more game played will put him in the all-time top-10.
• With three more face-offs taken, Vaughn Meehan will get to 300. 
• Kyle Harms is two ground balls away from reaching 50. 
• Andrew Candino is four saves shy of 100.
• The next game played will be 25 for Joe Murphy and Max Dennington.
• One more point will get Ryan Rigby to 30. 
• Tallen Smith is nearing 100 career points needing two more. Only six other Lions have ever scored 90 in a career. 

Who's Hot?
• Daniel Burnham has at least four points in four games this season and has scored at least once in six straight. 
• Vincent Giunta has scored two goals in three straight games. 
• Michael Ventresca has four goals in his last two games. 
• Justin Iannarone has been a plus in the face-off battle in six straight games. 
• Kyle Harms has at least three ground balls in four of his last five games.
• Tallen Smith has multiple points in four three straight games and has scored a goal in four straight. 

Lions in the CACC (statistic minimums set by NCAA)
• Georgian Court is second in the league with 49 total assists. 
• In saves per game, GCU has 18.12 to lead the CACC and is fourth in the country.
• The Lions 125 points is the second most in the CACC.
• On special teams, GCU's man-up defense ranks second killing off 76.5% of those opportunities. 
• Vincent Burkhart's 16.50 saves per game lead the CACC and are third nationally. 
• Daniel Burnham's 1.71 assists per game are fourth in the league. 
• Justin Iannarone is second in face-off percentage wining 54.8%.
• Brett Bridges and Joe Zerr each have three man-up goals which is third-most in the league. 

About the Opponent
St. Thomas Aquinas Spartans
• St. Thomas Aquinas is off to a 3-3 start this season which has already surpassed their win total from a year ago.
• All three wins have come against CACC opponents.
• The Spartans are 2-1 in games decided by two goals or less, including an overtime win over Caldwell.
• STAC on defense has a 54.5% face-off winning percentage and is killing 70% of all man-up opportunities. 
• Ryan Christensen leads the offense with 18 goals and 19 points. The freshman has scored a hat trick in four of five games played.
• Austin Palen has won 56-of-96 face-offs and has grabbed 34 ground balls.
• Craig Peavy has played 247 of 362 minutes in net with a 53.8 save percentage and 10.44 goals against average. Connor Reed has seen time in goal too playing 115 minutes and has a 48.2% save percentage, allowing 15.14 goals against average.