NORTHFIELD, Vt.—The top-seeded Norwich University men's lacrosse team will host one of two Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament semifinal games on Thursday, April 25 as the Cadets welcome No. 5 Emmanuel College to Howard Field.

Norwich advanced to the semifinal game by downing No. 8 Anna Maria 19-6 on Tuesday afternoon.  The Saints won their first GNAC tournament game in program history in a thrilling 9-8 win against the fourth-seeded Monks of Saint Joseph's of Maine.

The winner of today's semifinal game will advance to the championship game on Saturday.  The Cadets are searching for their second-straight appearance in the championship, as the team fell 7-4 to Mt. Ida in last year's tournament final. The game will be played at the highest remaining seed.

Norwich warded off a late Emmanuel comeback to win 7-6 in the only meeting between the two schools this season on March 21. The Cadets held a 7-4 lead with 5:43 left to play in regulation, but the Saints battled back to score three goals in a span of 2:02 to cut Norwich's lead to one goal with 59 seconds remaining in the game.

A pair of freshman combined for more than half of Norwich's seven goals in the win.  Ryan McCarthy (Medford, Mass.) totaled a team-best two goals and an assist, while Mike Lavery (Penacook, N.H.) also netted two goals.

Emmanuel was led by Evan Dolber, who also recorded two goals and an assist. Chris Curtis chipped in with a goal and an assist.

Norwich junior goaltender Mark Paradiso (Westford, Mass.) recorded 10 saves in the win, while Emmanuel goaltender Austin Lauzer totaled 14 saves for the Saints.  Both are expected to start in net for their respective teams in Thursday's semifinal.

The Cadets will look to junior Ian Mendoza (Mt. Airy, Md.) to make offensive contributions to Thursday's game.  Mendoza leads the team in total goals with 32 and ranks second on the team in total offense.  Sophomore Seth Fuller (Wheaton, Ill.), who leads the Norwich offense with 27 goals and 16 assists, will also be a major player in the semifinal against Emmanuel.

The Saints will look to sophomore Jake Jaskolski to aid the team against the strong Norwich defense that holds GNAC opponents to an average of 4.81 goals per game.  Jaskolski leads the Saints in points-production with 22 goals and 12 assists. Freshman Kaile Maclean-Daily leads the team in goals with 28.

The winner of Thursday's game will face the winner of the No. 2 Mount Ida/No. 6 Becker matchup taking place at Mount Ida's Alumni Field on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. 

The Norwich and Emmanuel GNAC semifinal will be video streamed live on the Norwich Athletics UStream Channel.