LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – Siena scored six straight goals to make up for a two-goal deficit in the second half and came from behind to beat Mount St. Mary's 9-6 Saturday afternoon at Siena Turf Field. With the victory, Siena earns a spot in the 2009 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament to be played in Buffalo, N.Y. The Saints honored their 17 seniors in a postgame ceremony. The Class of 2009 has a 32-27 (.542) career record and has now earned the program's only two trips to the MAAC Tournament.

The Saints persevered through Mount goalie T.C. DiBartolo who made 13 saves in the first half and 21 in the game. Siena (8-5, 6-0) continuously forced Mount turnovers (30) and outshot them 46-23, but DiBartolo stood tall and protected a Mount lead into the third quarter.

Cody Lehrer gave Mount St. Mary's (3-8, 3-3) a 1-0 lead at the 9:54 mark, but Siena's Bryan Neufeld tied it just 37 seconds later on a pass by Ryan Duggan. The teams went scoreless for the rest of the quarter, thanks to DiBartolo, until Christian Kellett scored with 21 seconds left.

Senior Kenny Mazzone tied the game at the 10:19 mark of the second quarter. He came around the cage and rolled it past DiBartolo on the far post. But Mount St. Mary's took its third lead of the game less than three minutes later as Anthony Golden made it 3-2. The Mount added to its lead with nine second left in the first half on Lehrer's second goal of the game.

Mount St. Mary's committed another costly turnover a few minutes into the second half and the Saints took full advantage. Senior Charly Rogener sprinted down the field and fired a shot past the goalie. A minute later, Siena goalie Brent Herbst took a penalty for a hit he delivered on the edge of his crease and he was forced out of the game. With the extra-man, Christian Kellett converted with a shot that beat backup goalie Tom Morr. Herbst replaced Morr after the goal.

Down 5-3 with five minutes left in the third quarter, Siena made its run. Jordan Loftus started it as he came around his defender and jump shot it inside the far post. Two minutes later, Shaun Dunn took his defender left and scored his first goal of the game, tying it 5-5.

Siena continued to throw its offensive firepower at DiBartolo, scoring the first four goals of the fourth period to take its first lead of the game, 6-5. Less than two minutes into the period, Brendan Murphy tallied the go-ahead goal in a man-up situation. Siena scored three more times to extend the lead to 9-5. Mount St. Mary's ended the six-goal run when Jim O'Shea scored with 4:15 left in the game, but the Saints cruised to the 9-6 win.

This was the first game of the season that Siena won when trailing at halftime (previously 0-3).

Mount St. Mary's had difficulty clearing the ball and maintaining possession against Siena's tenacious defense. The Mount was successful just 21 of 36 times while Siena was 14 of 15.

Siena finishes the regular-season on the road with games against Marist and Providence. Siena plays Marist on Wednesday in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. at 7:00 p.m.

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Loudonville, N.Y. (April 18, 2009)-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference leader Siena rallied to down Mount St. Mary's, 9-6, in men's lacrosse action on Saturday afternoon. Mount St. Mary's goalkeeper T.C. DiBartolo (Bowie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) tied a career high with 21 saves in the loss.

The Mount (3-8, 3-3 MAAC) had an outstanding first half, taking a 4-2 lead at the intermission. Freshman Cody Lehrer (Baltimore, Md./Dulaney) opened the scoring just over five minutes into the game with an assist going to freshman Eric Ososki (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin). Siena's Bryan Neufeld answered 37 seconds later, but the Mount's Christian Kellett (Audubon, Pa./Malvern Prep) scored with 21 seconds left in the first quarter to give the Mount a 2-1 advantage.

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2009-04-18