Canisius tops Hobart in OT

Courtesy of Hobart Athletics

BUFFALO, N.Y.—Canisius got a late goal to force overtime and then scored 1:09 into the extra session to defeat Hobart 8-7 in a non-conference lacrosse game at the Demske Sports Complex tonight. Simon Giourmetakis netted the decisive goal, his second OT game-winner of the season.

Hobart opened the night’s scoring when sophomore attackman Chris Pedersen passed from behind the cage to senior midfielder Daniel Keegan cutting down the middle. He dumped it home 2:54 into the game for his first goal of the season. Canisius countered with back-to-back goals by Adam Jones and Tom Vivian 59 seconds apart to take a 2-1 lead. First-year midfielder Tyler Smith knotted the game at 2-all with 9:04 left in the first quarter.

In the second frame, senior midfielder Mike Lazore and Keegan scored consecutive goals to put the Statesmen in front 4-2, but the Golden Griffins rattled off three in a row taking just 1:16 off the clock. Jon Domres started the run at the 5:50 mark. Nick LoCoco followed just over a minute later to tie the game. Canisius won the ensuing faceoff and Matt Barkas scored off a pass from Justin Maderer for a 5-4 Canisius lead with 4:34 left in the half.

Hobart didn’t waste any time tying the game at 5-all. Sophomore midfielder Bobby Dattilo won the faceoff and 15 seconds later, senior attackman Doug Shiver deposited a pass from sophomore attackman Sam Miller.

The game remained tied until the 4:17 mark of the third quarter when Alex Caldiero put the home team in front off an assist from Jones. The lead was short-lived as Dattilo won the next faceoff and set up senior midfielder Kurtis Gibbs with 4:02 left in the quarter.

Hobart took the lead for the final time when Miller scored his seventh goal of the season, off an assist from Pedersen to put the Statesmen up 7-6 with 10:36 left in regulation. Hobart had a chance to add to its lead when Canisius was flagged for cross-checking at the 5:54 mark. The Statesmen had a pair of shots blocked on the ensuing extra-man opportunity, but managed to keep possession. Hobart’s third shot sailed wide. Canisius backed it up and killed off the final 20 seconds of the penalty.

The Golden Griffins, who came into the contest ninth in the nation in man-up offence, forced overtime thanks to their own extra-man opportunity. Following a Hobart slashing penalty, Jones scored off a feed from LoCoco with 2:39 remaining. Both teams had a shot on goal in the waning seconds of regulation, but Canisius’ Sean Callahan (8 saves) and Hobart’s Max Silberlicht (13 saves) both proved up to the task.

The Golden Griffins (3-6) struggled to solve Dattilo at the X, but won a protracted battle for the first faceoff of overtime. Following a timeout, Canisius’ Simon Giourmetakis got a step on his man, raced down the right alley and beat Silberlicht from in close to give his team its third win in overtime this season.

The final stat sheet was every bit as tight as the final score with two notable exceptions. Dattilo won 13 of 19 faceoffs for Hobart, but the Statesmen committed eight more turnovers than the Griffins (20-12).

Jones led Canisius with three points (2-1), while the Statesmen got two-point efforts from Keegan (2-0), Miller (1-1) and Pedersen (0-2).

Hobart (2-8) will return to ECAC Lacrosse League play on April 17, when the Statesmen travel to Bellarmine. The first ever meeting between the two schools is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.