There’s nothing better than an NCAA Lacrosse goalie goal.
That of course is completely untrue if you are on the opposing team that scores the goalie goal. In that case, they are the absolute worst.
Earlier this year, LCD featured the complete list of goalie goals scored in the NLL. If you haven’t checked that out, find it here.
Today, we turn our focus to Division I NCAA lacrosse. Most fans might be surprised to know how many goalie goals actually get scored, so let’s go through the list for the 2024 season.
In total, six goaltenders scored this season, and none more than once. That’s actually down from a year ago, when six goaltenders combined for a total of 8 goals.
The undisputed king of goalie goals for now is Harvard’s Christian Barnard, who added another tally this year to bring his career total to three. He scored twice in 2023, and again in 2024. While historical records on this kind of information are slim to none, Barnard is the king at least for now.
His two goals last year can be found below.
First, his long-distance bomb against Bucknell.
Then another deep shot against BU.
But while impressive, these goals are old news. Let’s get into the goalie goals of the 2024 NCAA Lacrosse season.
February 17th – Christian Barnard vs Providence
Late in a blowout win over the Providence Friars, Barnard went coast to coast and buried the shot on the fast break for his third goal in two seasons. Barnard has some serious wheels and showed them off here.
Here is the broadcast view. It appears that Harvard was man-down at the time. Instead of looking for an outlet, Barnard took it all the way to the house.
March 9 – Matt Knote vs Vermont
All-American Matt Knote was terrific for the UMASS Minutemen and got some good luck in this one. He appeared to just be icing the ball to avoid the clear clock, but he got a hometown bounce off the turf and scored what was likely the longest goal of the season in college lacrosse.
March 9 – Alex Pazienza vs Siena
Pazienza was instrumental in guiding Sacred Heart to the NCAA tournament and got on the scoreboard as well. This was actually the same day as Knote’s goal, and is the first ten-man ride of the list where the goal was empty.
But Pazienza showed some serious power by scoring from distance. Shoutout to the broadcaster here for a great call.
April 6 – James Corasaniti vs Villanova
This was the second ten-man ride of the group, and shows Corasaniti launching the ball into the open cage. One of the funny trends of the season were the goalies that both got scored on and scored themselves. Barnard scored on Corasaniti but got scored on as well. Corasaniti scored on Villanova but got beat himself. What goes around comes around!
March 30 – Matt Nunes vs Harvard
This was probably the second nicest goal of the NCAA Lacrosse season from a netminder, but it was certainly the most important, as it broke a 10-10 tie with just five minutes remaining and eventually secured the victory for the Cavaliers.
Here is the broadcast view.
And the view from field level.
Nunes had one of the weirder (and more public) years of any goaltender in recent memory, but he had some superstar moments this year.
He also made these saves in that same game.
Credit for Nunes for rolling with the punches all year, and for arguably winning the Harvard game for the Cavaliers.
April 20 – Michael Gianforcaro vs Penn
In arguably the nicest goalie goal of the season, Michael Gianforcaro put the icing on the cake for the Tigers in their triumph over the Penn Quakers. Gianforcaro put the jets on right over midfield and split an oncoming double team. Then he decided to go for the backhand scoop shot to beat Emmett Carroll, one of the best goaltenders in all of Division I.
It was a fun year for the goalies, and hopefully will be a fun tradition here at LCD to recap every year. Thanks for reading!