April 14, 2007

Box Score

Buffalo, NY - Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse suffered their first conference loss of the season Saturday, April 14th, falling to Canisius, 15-7, at the Demske Sports Complex. Both teams are now 4-1 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference while the Hawks drop to 4-7 on the season and the Golden Griffins improve to 5-4. Steve Varga led SJU with a four-point day.

Canisius opened up the scoring 37 seconds into the game, starting a three-goal run for the Blue and Gold. Saint Joseph's got on the board at 7:44 when Varga scored his first of the day of a pass from Sean Cullinan. The Golden Griffins answered back with a goal of their own followed by Steve O'Brien notching a goal for the Hawks with an assist from Mike O'Neill. Canisius was able to add one more to its tally, making the score 5-2 at the end of the first quarter.

The Hawks held the Griffs to two goals in the second period and managed to score one of their own as Varga recorded his 15th goal of the season with the help of Alex Lopes. In the third quarter, the teams traded goals, bringing the score to 9-5 going into the fourth. O'Brien recorded an unassisted goal for the Hawks and Varga completed his hat trick off a quick pass from O'Neill.

In the final stanza, Canisius broke open the game, scoring six straight goals, including five during a span of 3:50. With 5:14 left to play, Lopes found the back o the net, turning the momentum for the Hawks. Zach Charles added a goal with an assist by Varga, but time expired before SJU could come back.

The Hawks scooped up 29 groundballs and completed 16 clears or the day. RJ Bopf saw most of the action in goal for SJU, recording 54:46 minutes and seven saves. Chase Stewart also saw some time, playing 5:14 and making one save in the contest.

Saint Joseph's returns to action Wednesday, April 18th when they travel to Emmitsburg, MD to take on conference rival Mount St. Mary's. Game time is set for 4:00 pm.