Loudonville, N.Y. - Saint Joseph's reeled off six straight goals and fended off a furious late rally attempt as the Hawks held on for an 8-7 win over the Siena men's lacrosse team this afternoon in Philadelphia. The Saints scored three goals in a 1:49 stretch late in the fourth but had a potential game-tying goal as the final buzzer sounded waved off as the Green and Gold dropped their conference opener.

Siena (3-2, 0-1) overcame a slow start and rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to score four consecutive goals to double up Saint Joseph's (1-6, 1-0) at 4-2 midway through the second period. The Hawks responded with a pair of goals over the final 1:20 of the half, including a goal with five seconds remaining, to even the score at 4-4 heading into intermission.

The Hawks added four more goals to make it six unanswered and take a commanding 8-4 lead with 13:11 remaining in the fourth on a Sean Evans goal.

But the Saints quickly found their offensive flare, scoring three goals in just 1:49 to pull within 8-7 at the 9:23 mark. Junior attack Chris Zarins, who led all scorers with four points, tallied the final two goals to make the game interesting.

The Green and Gold had three extra-man opportunities and out-shot the Hawks 13-3 in the final period but could not cash in down the stretch. Siena scored what appeared to be the game-tying goal as time expired, but it was ruled that the goal came after the final buzzer had sounded.

Siena out-shot Saint Joseph's 30-25 and harbored a 23-19 edge in ground balls. The Hawks controlled the face-off circle, winning 12 of the 19 attempts.

The Green and Gold will look to put a stop to the losing skid on Tuesday when they battle #17 Loyola. Game time is slated for 3:00 p.m. in Baltimore, Md.

2008-03-15