QUEENS, N.Y. (March 15, 2008) – Despite a second half, seven-goal rally, and senior Justin O'Donnell's four goal performance, the Red Storm lacrosse team fell short of its first conference victory, 11-8, to the No. 17 Loyola Greyhounds, Saturday afternoon at DaSilva Memorial Field. St. John's (0-5, 0-2 ECAC) had its best third quarter of the season as the defense shut out the Greyhounds (3-2, 2-0 ECAC), who had scored nine consecutive goals to take an eight goal lead going into the second half.

The Red Storm opened the game with a quick even-strength goal from O'Donnell to take the early lead before Loyola's offense went on its nine-goal run. In the third, junior Malcolm Miles jump-started the Red Storm offense, scoring a goal off a pass from fellow classmate Trevor Michaelsen at 13:22. Led off by Miles' goal, the Red Storm started a four-goal streak that extended into the fourth period.

With just under six minutes to play in the third stanza, O'Donnell scored his second goal of the game fed by sophomore Garrett Mitchell, his first point of the season and second assist of his career, making the score 9-3. Junior Jamal Jones capitalized on a Greyhound turnover caused by the aggressive stick-work of sophomore Reggie Davis deep in St. John's defensive end of the field to clear the ball to the Red Storm's attack zone. Jones passed the ball off to Michaelsen who sunk the ball past Greyhound goaltender Jake Hagelin, cutting the Greyhound lead to five.

Junior Dom DeNapoli won the opening face-off in the final period to give St. John's possession. After three missed shots on Loyola's net, senior Tom Michaelsen saw his opportunity to score as he inbounded the ball from behind the goal, cradled around the net and shouldered a shot past Hagelin to bring the Red Storm within four with 13:01 left in the game.

Up a man because of a St. John's pushing penalty, Loyola answered back with a goal by Eric Lusby to make the score 10-5 at 12:43. A minute later, O'Donnell continued to make dents in Loyola's lead as he ran through the Greyhound defense and got off a short straight shot into the Greyhounds' net, making the score 10-6 with 11 minutes to play. Loyola's Paul Richards picked up a Red Storm turnover and sprinted down the field as clock wound down on a Greyhound penalty. Richards' shot was good for a short-handed goal for Loyola, giving them an 11-6, lead with four minutes left. St. John's scored two more in the fourth as time ran down on the game clock but the second half comeback effort was not enough to earn the conference victory.

O'Donnell was the leading scorer for the Red Storm with four goals. His 16 shots tied his career high, which was at Fairfield on April 29, 2006, and his four goal effort gives him 63 career goals, making him the 11th player in St. John's history to hit the 60-goal milestone. Tom and Trevor Michaelsen were second in points with a goal and assist each. Miles and junior Tom Manes each scored their third goals of the season, while Jones earned his first point of the year with his assist. Sophomore Dan Goldberg (0-2) earned nine saves, with four coming in the third period. The loss was the Red Storm's fourth that was determined by three or less goals.

For Loyola, Cooper MacDonnell led the Greyhounds with a hat trick and an assist, Shane Koppens had three points with two assists and a goal, Chris Basler and Matt Langan had two points while Lusby, Richards and Jimmy Daly had a goal each.

Up next, the Red Storm heads to Lehigh, Pa., to face the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in a non-conference match up on Saturday, March 22 at 1:00 p.m.

Score by Period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Loyola..............  4  5  0  2 - 11
St. John's..........  1  0  3  4 -  8
 
Attendance: 645
 
Loyola SCORING:
GOALS: MacDonnell, Cooper 3; Basler, Chris 2; Langan, Matt 2;
       Koppens, Shane 1; Daly, Jimmy 1; Richards, Paul 1; Lusby, Eric 1.
ASSISTS: Koppens, Shane 2; MacDonnell, Cooper 1.
 
St. John's SCORING:
GOALS: Justin O'Donnell 4; Tom Michaelsen 1; Trevor Michaelsen 1;
       Malcolm Miles 1; Tom Manes 1.
ASSISTS: Jamal Jones 1; Tom Michaelsen 1; Trevor Michaelsen 1;
         Garrett Mitchell 1.
 
SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Loyola.............. 12  7  5  3 - 27
St. John's..........  8  5 11 17 - 41
 
GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Loyola..............  9 11  4  9 - 33
St. John's..........  8  6  5  9 - 28
 
FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Loyola..............  5-6   5-6   3-4   4-7  - 17-23
St. John's..........  1-6   1-6   1-4   3-7  -  6-23
 
CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Loyola..............  2-3   4-4   4-4   3-4  - 13-15
St. John's..........  4-7   4-5   8-8   5-5  - 21-25
 
EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Loyola..............  1-2   0-0   0-0   1-1  -  2-3
St. John's..........  0-0   0-1   0-0   0-2  -  0-3
 
SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Loyola..............  3  0  1  4 -  8
St. John's..........  3  1  4  1 -  9
 
TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Loyola..............  4  6  3  5 - 18
St. John's..........  3  6  3  2 - 14
 
PENALTIES - Loyola 3/2:30; St. John's 3/2:30.

2008-03-15