Page is one of Division 1 top scorers
Peterborough native will help lead Saint Joseph in tough battle with Yale in NCAA Tournament
There is nothing jinxed about Carter Page’s sophomore season at Philadelphia’s Saint Joseph’s University.
After not starting a game as a freshman, when he tallied four goals and one assist, the Peterborough native exploded this season as one of the top scorers in NCAA Division 1 field lacrosse.
He is one of two Peterborough natives in the Top 10 for NCAA goals and points, along with Delaware’s Mike Robinson, and there would likely have been a third if Syracuse’s Owen Hiltz had not been sidelined all year by an injury.
Page set a school single-season scoring record with 49 goals, which ranked him sixth in NCAA scoring, one goal ahead of Robinson, who ranked seventh. He also had seven assists for 56 points, while Robinson had 10 assists for 58 points.
On Saturday, Page had five goals to lead Saint Joseph’s to its first Northeastern Conference (NEC) championship with a 14-7 win over Hobart to advance for the first time to the NCAA Tournament.
The No. 20-ranked Saint Joseph’s drew a tough assignment as they’ll face No. 4-ranked Yale in the opening round this Saturday.
Saint Joseph’s posted a 14-3 record and were unbeaten in NEC play. Page was named to the NEC alltournament team at attack. In his freshman season, Page was part of a veteran team and had to pay his dues. This season, a starting role at attack opened up and he took full advantage.
“Our offence has been really balanced this year,” Page said. “We are one of the only teams in the country that has four or five guys above 40 points. I knew we had a lot of skill and talent at the offensive end and I was just waiting for my opportunity to step in there and contribute. From day one, I felt comfortable with the guys I was playing with.”
Page tied the school record of 44 goals in the NEC semifinals against Long Island University. He smashed it in the final with five more tallies. He hopes to add to his total this weekend.
The individual record was nice, but Page said the conference title was the big prize.
“Our fifth-year guys had been in two conference championships and our coach, Taylor Wray, in six, and the program had never won,” Page said.
“So it’s been that pressure that was put upon us that we could get to that point but we could never get past that hump. Doing it for the first time in program history really earned some much-needed respect in the lacrosse community.”
It only gets tougher from here as Yale is a heavy favourite.
“It’s unchartered territory for us. It’s exciting times around here. Yale is a team that has been here before and that’s what our coaches have emphasized,” Page said.
“We’ve never had the opportunity and I think he most important part they keep reiterating to the team is our job is a long way from finished. We’re happy with our NEC championship, but I think we can really make some noise in the lacrosse community if we bring the energy and keep playing Saint Joseph’s lacrosse the right way. That’s our game plan. To focus on ourselves and out-compete them from the first whistle.”
Page won a Meredith Cup Ontario junior-C championship with Robinson in 2018 and they were teammates on the junior-A Lakers.
This is Robinson’s second season ranking among the top NCAA scorers.
A junior, he helped Delaware finish the season with an 11-5 record to claim the Colonial Athletic Association Conference banner.
Delaware defeated Towson in the championship game 11-6, where Robinson added one goal.
Delaware was to face Robert Morris in an NCAA Tournament play-in game Wednesday night.