By: Connor Pohlman
After a fairly even first half, Hobart opened the second half on a 12–2 run to break open a close contest and defeat Canisius 22–13 in collegiate men's lacrosse action Saturday at the Poole Sports Dome in Geneva, N.Y.
Tommy Mott tallied nine points (5g, 4a) and Ryan Archer added seven (3g, 4a) to pace a potent Statesmen attack. Derrek Madonna chipped in four goals in the win, while John Herlihy notched two goals and dished out two assists for a four-point afternoon.
Senior Jacob Buck and freshman Colin Kelly each tallied a hat trick and added an assist to pace the Golden Griffins. Sophomore Keegan Kozack also recorded a hat trick, while junior Nathan Conry finished with two goals. Graduate goalie Matt Vavonese matched his career high with 16 saves.
In the season opener for both programs, Hobart held a 9–6 edge at the start of the second half before scoring the first five goals of the third quarter to build a 14–6 advantage.
Head coach Miyashita spoke of his team's flat play coming out of the half: "Execution of the game plan and basic fundamentals was an issue early in the second half,” Miyashita said. “We missed three first-time ground balls that we should have had, which would have given us possessions, and instead they got the ball and they were able to capitalize.”
Back-to-back tallies from Kozack and sophomore Hunter Parucki in a 34-second span trimmed the Canisius deficit to six, but the Statesmen responded with seven straight goals to take a 21–9 lead midway through the fourth quarter. The Griffs tallied five of the last six goals of the game to determine the final nine-goal margin.
Earlier in the contest, Hobart held a 3–2 midway through the first quarter before closing the frame with four straight goals to build a 7–2 edge.
Canisius battled back in the second quarter, using a pair of goals from Buck and individual tallies from Kelly and Conry to outscore the Statesmen in frame by a 4–2 margin and set the stage for Hobart's game-changing run at start the second half.
The Canisius Golden Griffins will look to bounce back from their opening loss when they continue their season-opening road trip on Feb. 19 with a contest against Bellarmine. The game is slated to start at 12 p.m.
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