ANN ARBOR -- The Siena Heights men's lacrosse team held off a late rally by host Concordia to edge the Cardinals 13-12 on Wednesday afternoon. Jake Gallaher led the Saints with seven points (2+5=7) in the winning effort.
THE BASICS
Final Score: Siena Heights 13, Concordia 12
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan (Cardinal Stadium)
Records: Siena Heights (4-4, 2-2 WHAC), Concordia (2-6, 0-4 WHAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Saints struck first with a goal by Nate Ford in the opening two minutes of the game for the 1-0 lead. Concordia tied things up with a score at the 9:40 mark of the first quarter. Ryan Mamo scored the first of his three goals with 5:28 remaining in the opening quarter to retake the lead, 2-1. The Cardinals tallied back-to-back goals to take their first lead of the game (3-2) with 2:26 left in the first. Mamo and Alex Gilbert responded with goals of their own to put Siena back on top 4-3 as the quarter wound down to zero.
Concordia struck twice in the first four minutes of the second quarter to regain the lead (5-4). Mamo netted his third goal of the game that sparked a goal from Nolan Lyons and two from Jake Gallaher to push the Saints to an 8-5 advantage with just over three minutes remaining in the first half. The Cardinals shook the net with 37 seconds left in the second to cut the SHU lead to two goals as the teams entered the half.
Following a goal by Concordia to begin the second half, the Saints rattled off four unanswered goals to extend the lead to 12-7. Stosh Kowalski scored with 12:59 remaining the third to increase the lead to 9-7. Danny Kreitzer scored less than a minute later (12:15) to give Siena a three-goal lead. Lyons scored his second goal at the 8:36 mark and Gilbert scored once more with 5:02 left in the third for a 12-7 lead for Siena.
The Cardinals stormed back in the fourth quarter by scoring with 12:45 left in regulation to cut the deficit to four goals. That goal ignited another three goals for the home team that put things at 12-11 with just under four minutes left in the game. Gilbert scored what would become the game-winning goal with 2:17 remaining in the game that put the score at 13-11 in favor of the road team. CUAA netted a goal with 1:29 remaining to cut the lead to one goal but failed to score again before the clock bled down to zeros.
TOP SAINTS
• Gilbert and Mamo each registered hat-tricks in the game. Gilbert dished two assists in the game as well.
• Lyons and Gallaher both scored twice. Gallaher also recorded a game-high five assists and seven ground balls.
• Ford, Kowalski, and Kreitzer were the other goal scorers for the Saints.
• Vinnie Jean made 18 saves in the winning effort.
THE OPPOSITION
• Oliver Niedzwiecki and Mikey Vanvleet led the Cardinals with three goals apiece.
• Collin Webb and Nick Stedtfield were the leaders in ground balls with five.
• Austin Kelly received the loss between the posts for Concordia. He made seven saves in 45 minutes of play.
