Last-minute goal sinks Siena men in rivalry matchup with Canisius
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Siena men’s lacrosse held a 9-5 lead at halftime of their mid-week MAAC matchup with rival Canisius, but was unable to close out a victory. Golden Griffins senior midfielder Jackson Webster scored with 34 seconds remaining to lift Canisius to a 13-12 win against the host Saints at Hickey Field on a rainy Wednesday afternoon.
Siena (3-6, 1-3 MAAC) lost for the fifth time this season by two goals or fewer and for the fourth time by a single goal.
Playing out in a similar fashion to prior game scripts, the Saints played another strong first half of lacrosse behind a pair of hat tricks from junior attack Pratt Reynolds and sophomore attack Caden Olmstead.
But the Golden Griffins (3-7, 1-3 MAAC) responded with vigor in the third quarter by outscoring Siena 5-1 in the quarter to even it heading into the final frame.
Siena took the lead back twice in the fourth on goals by Jack Cavaioli with 12:42 left on an assist from Ryan McCarthy and again at 5:39 remaining on an unassisted goal by Cavaioli.
The senior midfielder from Farmingdale, NY finished out with a career-high six points (two goals and four assists).
His previous best had been three points in a single game against VMI just 11 days earlier.
Cavaioli has already set new single-season personal bests for points with 16 and assists with eight.
The captain’s eight goals tied last year’s season total.
Canisius found a way late by receiving a goal from Hunter Parucki on an assist from Webster with 4:26 remaining to lock the score at 12-all before Webster’s winner.
Siena had a last dash opportunity when Dylan Pape won the face off and picked up a ground ball to retain possession. A shot by Olmstead went wide before Siena called for timeout with 15 seconds left.
On the regroup, Olmstead fired a shot that deflected off the helmet of Golden Griffin’s goalkeeper Tommy Kunz, who made his 15th save of the afternoon as Canisius was able to drain the clock after Alexis Simard flung the ball high in the air as time expired.
Many of the statistics were nearly even or favored the Saints including a 27-21 shots on goal advantage and a 48-42 overall shot advantage. Pape was 15 of 28 on faceoffs. A major advantage swing went to Canisius in terms of saves (15-8).
Siena returns to action on Saturday, March 30 at 12 p.m., traveling to Staten Island to take on Wagner (1-8, 1-2 MAAC) in league action. The Seahawks were scheduled to play LIU on Wednesday and entered having lost three straight games.