Canisius Tops St. Joe's For Second Straight in OT
from press release
PHILADELPHIA - Senior Mike Benzinger scored 37
seconds into overtime to give the Canisius College men's lacrosse
team its second-straight overtime victory, defeating Saint
Joseph's, 11-10. With the win, the Griffs improve to 2-4 on the
season and 2-1 in MAAC play.
Sophomore Justin Maderer won the faceoff in overtime and the Hawks
were then whistled for a pushing penalty, giving Canisius just its
second extra-man opportunity of the game. Sophomore Simon
Giourmetakis, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime last
weekend, found Benzinger and the senior buried the shot to give
Canisius the victory.
"It was another gutsy win out there and we really needed this one
on the road," said Canisius head coach Randy Mearns. "We were down
senior captain (and faceoff specialist) Tim Rowley and Justin
Maderer stepped up big time. We just keep battling and picking each
other up. It was a great team effort. We still have a lot to work
on but we are getting there. I'm real proud of the effort today
against a very good Saint Joseph's squad."
Junior Adam Jones led the Griffs with three goals on the afternoon,
raising his career point total to 102. Jones is the 15th player in
the program's history to reach the 100-point plateau. The junior
has totaled 83 goals and 19 assists during his career.
Benzinger and Giourmetakis each added two scores, while sophomore
Mike Allaire recorded a career-best two points on a goal and
assist. Junior Tom Vivian and sophomores Jimmy Haney and Brendan
O'Hagan rounded out the scoring for Canisius with a goal each.
Junior Nick LoCoco paced the Canisius attack with three assists on
the afternoon.
Sophomore Sean Callahan recorded eight saves to earn his
second-straight victory in net.
The Hawks (0-10, 0-3 MAAC) started the game strong, never trailing
in the first half of play. Joey D'Avanzo scored the first goal of
the game 2:11 into the contest but Allaire answered right back 1:06
later. Sean Evans once again gave Saint Joseph's the lead but Jones
netted his first goal of the afternoon 1:38 later as the teams
battled to a 2-2 draw after one.
The Griffs, however, were unable to answer Saint Joseph's goals in
the second quarter as the Hawks tallied all three scores in the
period to head into intermission with a 5-2 lead.
Canisius rallied in the third period, dominating the quarter and
outscoring the Hawks, 6-0, to take the lead. Giourmetakis scored
his first goal of the game 16 seconds into the half with a
man-advantage. After nearly six minutes of scoreless action, the
Griffs scored five goals in the final 8:47 to take an 8-5 lead into
the fourth. Benzinger sparked the rally off a feed from LoCoco.
O'Hagan then knotted the game at five and Jones gave the Griffs
their first lead of the afternoon with 3:52 remaining in the
period. Giourmetakis and Jones each added goals in the final 49
seconds of the period for the three-goal advantage.
Saint Joseph's fought back in the fourth quarter. The teams traded
goals to start the final period but the Hawks then tallied the next
two to pull within one, 9-8. Haney stretched Canisius' lead back to
two, scoring with just 3:07 left in regulation. However, Evans
scored with 2:20 left and Artie Marrapese netted a goal 28 seconds
later to tie the game at 10.
Maderer, who won a career-high 13-of-21 faceoffs on the afternoon,
gave the Griffs the possession with a chance to win in regulation.
However, Canisius was unable to find the back of the net and the
game headed into overtime.
Canisius outshot the Hawks, 35-26, and held a slight advantage in
faceoffs, 13-11. Evans led Saint Joseph's with five points, scoring
three goals and registering two assists. Griffin Ferrigan recorded
eight saves in the defeat.
The Griffs take a break from MAAC play for a non-conference tilt
with Robert Morris on Tuesday. Canisius will play in Moon Township
with the game set to begin at 3 p.m.
Game Notes: The Griffs played back-to-back overtime games for the
first time in school history ... Canisius and Saint Joseph's played
a one-goal game for the fourth-straight season ... The Griffs, who
entered the game ranked seventh nationally by converting 50 percent
of their man-up opportunities, went 2-for-2 on the extra-man
advantage, including the game-winning score ... Canisius is 2-0
since LoCoco returned to the lineup from injury and have averaged
11.5 goals per game, compared to 5.75 goals per game when he was
out ... Jones now ranks 14th in school history with his 102 career
points, passing John Webster, who recorded 101 points from 1991 to
1994.
