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VICTOR — Hobart recorded five unanswered goals in a 7:08 span during the second half to break open a close contest and defeat Canisius, 18-11, in collegiate men’s lacrosse action Tuesday at the Pinnacle Athletic Campus.
Bryan Hancock scored four goals and added two assists to pace the Statesmen (3-4). Max Romm chipped in four goals while four players – Frank Brown, Mark Darden, Stanny Gilbertson and Justin Scott – finished with two goals each.
Junior Connor Kearnan tallied three goals and added three points to lead the Griffs (2-3). Senior Jeff Edwards scored one goal and added three assists for four points as he surpassed the 100-point plateau for his career.
Hobart raced out to a 4-0 lead in the game’s opening minutes, using even-strength tallies from four different players in a 5:58 span to build the early advantage.
Canisius battled back to tie the game at 4-4. Filson got the Griffs on the board at the 3:54 mark of the first quarter before Coss and Caito scored in the final 1:20 of the first quarter to make it a 4-3 contest after one. Kearnan capped the spurt at the 11:30 mark of the second quarter to bring Canisius level.
The Statesmen restored their four-goal advantage moments later, rattling off four unanswered goals in a 3:43 stretch to build an 8-4 cushion.
Kearnan sparked a second Canisius comeback, picking up his second goal of the game with 6:11 remaining in the second quarter before capping a 4-1 spurt for the Griffs with his third of the game with 4:16 to play in the third to make it a 9-8 contest.
Hancock and Romm ignited the game-changing run for the Statesmen a little more than two minutes after Kearnan’s tally, scoring back-to-back tallies in a 53 second span to close out the third quarter before teaming up to score the first three goals of the fourth give Hobart a 14-8 advantage.
A goal from Mario Caito and back-to-back tallies from junior Ryan McKee highlighted a 3-1 stretch that brought Canisius within four, 15-11, but Hobart was scored the final three goals of the game in the last 2:29 of the contest, to determine the final margin.
Tuesday’s matchup served as the 17th meeting between Canisius and Hobart. The two teams have played each other in each the past 13 seasons. The game was the second of the second for Canisius at the Pinnacle Athletic Campus in Victor. The Griffs opened their campaign with a 13-8 victory against Dartmouth at the venue on Feb. 18. Hobart out-shot Canisius, 51-27, for the contest. The Statesmen enjoyed a 29-10 advantage in shots taken in the second half. Canisius was 18-of-32 at the faceoff X on Tuesday. Freshman Daniel Balawejder was 12-of-21 in faceoffs while fellow rookie Michael Sanzone was a perfect 4-for-4. Senior Jeff Edwards became the 19th player in program history to reach the 100-point plateau for his career with his four-point effort on Tuesday. Jeff Edwards is the first Canisius player to reach the milestone since his brother, Tim, did so during his junior season in 2013-14. Junior Connor Kearnan recorded five or more points in a game for the third time this season as he finished with three goals and three assists Tuesday. Junior Liam Ganzhorn finished with 10 saves, marking the third time this season that Ganzhorn has recorded double-digit saves in a contest.
Canisius opens Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action Saturday with a Noon contest against Marist at the Demske Sports Complex. The game will be shown live on ESPN3.
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