Canisius College Wins 2008 MAAC Men's Lacrosse Championship
MAAC Sports
Loudonville, N.Y. ? Second-seeded Canisius College defeated the fourth-seeded Virginia Military Institute, 14-5, in the championship game of the 2008 MAAC Men’s Lacrosse Championship at Siena Field on the campus of Siena College.
With the win, Canisius earned the league’s automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship. The bracket will be announced tonight on ESPNU between 9:00-10:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Jacob Weimer got the Keydets on the scoreboard first with a goal at the 5:42 mark of the first quarter, assisted by Brett Leonard. The Griffs’ Adam Jones then put his squad on the board with an unassisted goal with 3:51 left in the first stanza to tie it at 1-1. Jones scored again less than two minutes later, with the help of Nick Loco, to put Canisius ahead, 2-1. But VMI’s Matt Piazza would tie it up at 2-2, capitalizing on a man-up opportunity with less than one minute left in the quarter.
Canisius started its offensive effort in the second quarter with John Minieri netting a pass from Jones at the 13:59 mark. The Griffs went ahead, 4-2, with a goal by Alex Caldiero with 10:22 remaining in the quarter and held on to the two-point lead into halftime.
Minieri kicked off the Griffs’ scoring for the second half, netting a goal off a shot from Mike Rautenstrauch at the 10:02 mark the third quarter to put his squad up, 5-2. Michael Benzinger teamed up with Tom Hensel to add another goal at the 7:40 mark to put Canisius ahead, 6-2. Michael Blocho then added a goal, with help from Caldiero, with 6:17 remaining in the third stanza to give Canisius a 7-2 lead. Jones completed his hat trick at the 4:27 mark, finding the back of the net after getting a pass from LoCoco, to increase Canisius lead by six (8-2). At the 2:10 mark, Blocho recorded his second goal of the day off a pass from Dave Schaefer to put the Griffs up, 9-2. Canisius moved to 10-2 as Hensel bounced in his first goal of the contest with four seconds left in the third quarter.
Minieri went on to score his third goal on the day less than three minutes into the fourth quarter for the Griffs (11-2). With 11:00 left to play, Jones knocked in a shot from Hensel to record Canisius’ 11th goal of the day (11-2). Tim Moran added one more goal for VMI during a man-up advantage, aided by Weimer, with 10:36 left to make it a 12-3 contest. Back-to-back by Justin Rychlicki and Blocho put the Griffs up, 14-3. VMI’s Leonard and Weimer added one more goal apiece for the Keydets in the final minute of regulation. Canisius, however, held on to earn the school’s first-ever MAAC Men’s Lacrosse Championship title.
Chris Courteau tallied six stops between the pipes for Canisius, while Bryan Jack posted one save for the Griffs. Sean McCoy recorded six saves for VMI.
Canisius’ Courteau was named Most Outstanding Player. Joining Courteau on the All-Tournament Team are teammates Jones, Matt Hajek and Michael Ferranti, along with VMI’s Patrick Zanelotti, Moran and Hill, Providence College’s Bennett Murphy and Scott Wenskus, and Manhattan College’s Corey Dolik and Shawn Gorinson.
Recap:
VMI (6-10, 4-4 MAAC) 2 0 0 3 -- 5
Canisius (10-5, 7-1 MAAC) 2 2 6 4 -- 14
Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists):
Canisius ? Adam Jones (4-1), John Minieri (3-1), Michael Blocho (3-0), Tom Hensel (1-2), Alex Caldiero (1-1), Michael Benzinger (1-0), Justin Rychlicki (1-0), Nick LoCoco (0-2), Mike Rautenstrauch (0-1), Dave Schaefer (0-1), Mark Leonard (0-1)
VMI ? Jacob Weimer (2-2), Matt Piazza (1-0), Tim Moran (1-0), Brett Leonard (1-1), Kevin Hill (0-1)
Saves: Canisius ? Chris Courteau 6, Bryan Jack 1; VMI ? Sean McCoy 6
Shots: Canisius 31, VMI 22
Shots on Goal: Canisius 20, VMI 12
Groundballs: Canisius 38, VMI 28
Turnovers: Canisius 19, VMI 20
2008 MAAC All-Tournament Team
Canisius:
Michael Ferranti
Matt Hajek
Adam Jones
VMI:
Kevin Hill
Tim Moran
Patrick Zanelotti
Providence:
Bennett Murphy
Thomas Wenskus
Manhattan:
Corey Dolik
Shawn Gorinson
Most Outstanding Player: Chris Courteau