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VICTOR — Junior Connor Kearnan recorded his fourth hat-trick of the season to pace a potent Griffs attack as Canisius defeated Marist, 17-6, in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men’s lacrosse action Saturday at the Pinnacle Athletic Campus.
With the win, Canisius moved to 3-3 on the year, picking up their first conference win of the season, while Marist moved to 4-3 overall.
Sophomore Mario Caito got the Griffs on the board at 7:41 of the first for an early 1-0 lead before Canisius added two goals over the final 0:35 of the quarter (Caito and junior Ryan McKee) to give the Blue and Gold a 3-0 lead at the end of one.
The Griffs continued their strong play to start the second, with Kearnan and junior Steven Coss scoring the first two goals of the frame for a 5-0 cushion.
Canisius held the Red Foxes scoreless over the first 20:16 of the contest before a goal from Jon Constant at the 9:44 mark of the second got Marist on the board and cut the Canisius lead to 5-1.
Senior Lewis Vaccaro got the Griffs back on track in the final moments of the second quarter, registering the final two goals of the frame to give Canisius a 7-1 lead at the break.
Out of the halftime break, the Golden Griffins scored the first three goals to cap their second 5-0 run of the game and take a 10-1 lead with 8:29 remaining in the third.
Marist would make a push, scoring three of the next four goals and tightening the gap to 11-4 with 12:39 to play in the match.
From there, the Griffs would once again take over offensively, closing the contest on a 6-2 run over the final 12:12 of the game to determine the final margin. Kearnan added his second and third goals of the evening during the spurt while McKee chipped in a goal and two assists.
Junior Liam Ganzhorn picked up his third victory of the season(3-3), making nine saves in the win.
Canisius hosts No. 8 Albany Tuesday in a 4 p.m. contest at the Demske Sports Complex. The game will be shown live on ESPN3.
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