QUEENS, N.Y. (Feb. 16, 2008) – The St. John's men's lacrosse team lost 7-5 to the Patriot League's Holy Cross Crusaders in Saturday's season- and home-opener on DaSilva Memorial Field.

With the loss, the Red Storm is 0-1 on the season, while the Crusaders go 1-0. Five St. John's players scored goals in the contest.

The Red Storm took off to an early lead as senior attackman Graeme Gillesepie put one past Crusader goaltender, Jimmy Harrison, midway through the first period.

Capitalizing on a Holy Cross penalty, senior midfielder Justin O'Donnell increased the Red Storm lead to two, with a power play goal fed by junior Tom Manes with just under two minutes to play in the first.

Winning the second period's opening face-off, senior Jack Rosson quickly picked up the groundball off the draw and ran the ball into the attack box. With just five seconds off the game clock, Rosson fed the ball into the back of the net to put the Red Storm up 3-0. Rosson eventually went 8-for-15 from the face-off X with six groundballs.

After Rosson's goal, Holy Cross scored five unanswered goals, two scored by junior midfielder Luke Marchand. The Crusaders took the lead with less than six minutes to go in the third period as sophomore Chris Smirti grabbed the ball out of the air from a misdirected St. John's pass for a quick turn-around goal in front of the net.

St. John's brought the score back within one (5-4) as senior Rob Gannon connected off of a pass from O'Donnell halfway through the last quarter. Gannon's goal was the first Red Storm point since the start of the second period.

Manes scored the Red Storm's last goal at 4:48 in the fourth quarter.

Plagued by penalties and turnovers, the Red Storm's defense played strong, holding the Crusaders away from the crease on all eight man-down situations. St. John's tallied 21 turnovers to Holy Cross' 18.

Sophomore Gavin Buckley played well in the net for the Red Storm in his first collegiate start, stuffing seven of the Crusaders 31 shots. Junior Dom DeNapoli collected a second-best team high of five groundballs, picking up key possessions after Crusader turnovers. Gillespie led the team in shots with five.

Next up, the Red Storm will take to the road for its first of two away contests. St. John's will face the Quinnipiac Bobcats in Hamden, Conn., at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13.

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QUEENS, N.Y. Senior Toby Banta (Melrose, Mass.) and junior Luke Marchand (Concord, Mass.) each scored two goals as the Holy Cross men's lacrosse team defeated St. Johns, 7-5, this afternoon in non-conference action in the season-opener for both teams. With the win, the Crusaders start the season 1-0, while the Red Storm start the season 0-1.

Banta also added one assist to lead the team with three points. Sophomores Edison Parzanese (Edgartown, Mass.) and Chris Smirti (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) each had one goal and one assist, while freshman Matt Moran (West Henrietta, N.Y.) scored his first collegiate goal. St. Johns was led by Justin O'Donnell and Tom Manes who each had one goal and one assist.

St. Johns started the game with three straight goals. The Red Storm took a 1-0 lead with 6:45 left on the clock in the first period with a goal by Graeme Gillespie. St. Johns then increased its lead to 2-0 when ODonnell netted a goal with 1:43 left in the first. Jack Rosson began the second period with a goal to make it a 3-0 game. The Crusaders then went onto score five unanswered goals. Marchand scored Holy Cross first goal of the game with 12:55 on the clock to make the score 3-1. The goal was assisted by Smirti. With under a minute to play in the half, Parzanese made it a 3-2 game.

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2008-02-16