By: Stephen Lapage
The Canisius Men’s Lacrosse team opened up its season on the road against the Hobart Statesmen last Saturday, February 11th. The Golden Griffins battled through the whole game but came up short in the end.
The Golden Griffins traveled to Geneva, New York to play Hobart in the first regular season game for both programs. The contest featured plenty of scoring, with 34 goals combined between the two teams.
Hobart started the scoring early in the first quarter with 5 straight goals. Canisius looked to strike back as sophomore Midfielder Jaxon Fridge netted the first of the season for Griffs. Despite the attempt at building some momentum for Canisius, Hobart was able to score four more goals before the first quarter ended to give Hobart a 9-1 lead.
Hobart continued to score as they opened up the second quarter with two more goals. Even with the large deficit, the Golden Griffins were not out of the game yet, as they were able to rally back and score two goals themselves on the man-up. Hobart answered with two goals for themselves, with one on the man up. Canisius was able to score one more before the end of the first half, but so was Hobart, making the score 14-4 at halftime.
Canisius came out of the half with some fire as they ended up out-scoring Hobart in the third quarter 3-2, making the score at the end of the third quarter 16-7. Canisius needed a strong performance in the fourth quarter to come out with a win.
The fourth quarter was marked by a barrage of scores, as both teams combined for 14 goals in the last quarter of play. Canisius was able to outscore the Statesmen 7-4, but unfortunately for them, winning the last two quarters did not result in a winning effort, losing the game 20-14.
The Golden Griffins will look to add their first win of the season when they host the Bellarmine Knights on Saturday, February 18th at noon. Canisius will then travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan on Tuesday, February 21st at 3 p.m. to play Michigan.