HAMDEN, Conn. (Feb. 25, 2008) -- It was a battle to the last fraction of the second at the Quinnipiac Field Hockey/Lacrosse field as the Red Storm lacrosse team fell 11-10 to the Quinnipiac Bobcats, in a non-league contest Monday afternoon.

With the loss, the Red Storms record falls to 0-2, while the Bobcats advance to 2-0 on the season.

Six players scored goals in the turf battle, with junior midfielder Trevor Michaelsen leading the team in points with five (4 goals, 1 assist).

Similar to last season, the game was a scoring battle, with both teams alternating goals right to the very end. The game ended with a last second goal by Quinnipiac sophomore Garret Kerr as the buzzer sounded.

The Bobcats scored first, early the first period with a goal by grad student Anthony Poerio.

Michealsen answered back at 11:53 taking the ball in from the top of the box with a hard shot past sophomore Bobcat goaltender Kevin Benzing, tying the score at 1-1.

Senior midfielder Justin ODonnell gave the Red Storm a 2-1 lead at 8:02 in the first period with a quick unassisted goal.

Kerr bounced the ball past St. Johns goaltender Gavin Buckley to even up the score for the second time. Seconds later, Quinnipiacs Bill Hayes drove one past Buckley to take a 3-2 lead.

Michaelsen answered right back as he and freshman Joe Bagnasco, making his first career start, connected for the last St. Johns goal of the period, tying the score at three. Quinnipiac scored two unanswered goals, one off a Red Storm slashing penalty, to end the period up 5-3.

With just under five minutes to play in the first half, ODonnell brought the game within one goal as he scored unassisted with 4:55 to go in the second period, capitalizing on Poerios thirty-second holding penalty for a power play goal.

Senior Graeme Gillespie tied the game at five with 3:02 to play the half, muscling it to the back of the net off a short pass from Michaelsen, scoring on another Quinnipiac man-down situation.

St. Johns took the lead in the third period as Michaelsen, assisted by junior Tom Manes scored his third goal of the game at two minutes into the half.

The Bobcats answered right back tying the game for the third time at 8:56, before taking a 7-6 lead over the Red Storm two minutes later. Quinnipiac scored once more in the third to take a two goal lead, 8-6, going into the last quarter.

Midway through the fourth, Quinnipiac scored once more, giving them their largest lead of the day with three goals. Gillespie tightened the Bobcat lead back down to two as he and Bagnasco connected for a clean goal with 8:49 to go.

Junior-transfer Malcolm Miles scored his first collegiate goal unassisted to bring the Red Storm within one before Michaelsen and Manes connected for a second time, tying the game up for the fourth time, 9-9, with 4:07 to play in the game.

Senior Rob Gannon scored his first goal of the game off a pass from Bagnasco with 2:23 to play, stuffing the ball past Benzing on the left side with 2:23 left on the clock.

It seemed as the though the game would go in the Red Storms favor, but with just under a minute to play, Poerio scored unassisted at 56 seconds, tying the game for a fifth time, 10-10.

Capitalizing on a St. Johns turnover, the Bobcats quickly transitioned the ball down the field as Kerr got a shot off just as the buzzer sounded to give Quinnipiac the 11-10 victory.

Michaelsen led St. Johns in scoring with five points, Bagnasco was second on the team with three points (all assists).

Buckley had a powerful game in the net, saving 11 of 22 Bobcat shots on goal.

Up next for the Red Storm is its first conference game of the season against the No. 4 Georgetown Hoyas. Face-off is slated for 1:00 p.m. in Washington, D.C. on March 1.

2008-02-25