FINAL STATS
Buffalo, NY – The Wagner College men's lacrosse fought Canisius tooth and nail in a defensive-minded affair before dropping a hard-fought 7-4 decision in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) contest.
The Seahawks and Golden Griffins went into halftime tied at 4-4 before Canisius posted three second-half goals to earn the victory.
Wagner jumped out on top by an early 2-0 count. Freshman attack
Mike Hurley (Billerica, Billerica, MA) put the Seahawks on the board with 2:05 remaining in the opening quarter after receiving a pass from junior midfielder
Chris Ridente (Cranford, NJ/ Cranford). The freshman attack combination of
Marcus Janda (Schnecksville, PA/ Parkland) and Hurley combined on a goal to make it 2-0 as Janda slammed home off a Hurley assist. This tally gave the Seahawks a 2-0 lead 33 seconds into the second quarter.
Canisius responded with four consecutive goals as four different Golden Griffins found the net during this run. Undanted, Wagner fought back with two late first-half scores to tie the game at 4-4. With 1:38 to go in the half, junior midfielder
Pete Blackmer (Marcellus, NY/ Marcellus) found the back on an unassisted goal. Just 54 seconds later, senior attack
Evan Shull (Port Jefferson Station, NY/ Comsewogue) knotted the game off an assist by senior midfielder
Brian Poissant (Manlius, NY/ Fayetteville-Manlius) with just 44 seconds left in the half.
The teams played on nearly even terms at the outset of the second half before Tom Vivian scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal, an unassisted tally with 5:03 remaining in the third quarter that gave Canisius a 5-4 lead. Simon Giourmetakis then tacked on a goal with 1:48 to go in the third quarter to make it 6-4. Giourmetakis then added the final marker of the game early in the fourth quarter to fashion the final score at 7-4.
Both goalies were outstanding in this one. Wagner's
Peter Rubin (East Rockaway, NY/ East Rockaway) had 11 saves while Bryan Jack turned away 15 shots for Canisius.
Wagner (1-11, 0-4) out-shot Canisius (3-6, 2-3) 32-28, while the Golden Griffins held a 38-27 advantage in face-offs. Canisus won 8-of-14 face-offs in a game that featured a combined 49 turnovers, 26 by the Golden Griffins and 23 by the Seahawks. Wagner was 1-of-3 on extra-man opportunities while Canisius was 1-of-1.
Wagner returns home to meet Manhattan on Wednesday, April 15 at 4:00 pm.
