Men’s lax begins playoffs this Saturday vs. Quinnipiac

By: Colin Richey, Ava C. Green,, Peter Neville, Sports Editor, Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor, Asst. Sports Editor

Having already clinched a playoff spot on April 5, the Canisius men’s lacrosse team settled into the third seed of the MAAC Tournament after they fell to Siena 16–10 on Saturday. As the third seed, the Griffs will host the six-seed Quinnipiac Bobcats in the first round of the MAAC Playoffs on Saturday, April 26.

In their final regular season game last Saturday, which was senior day, the Griffs went into the half holding an 8–7 lead. The close score continued into the fourth quarter, with the two teams eventually tied at 10 goals apiece. Siena pulled ahead late, though, scoring the final six goals of the day to secure a 16–10 victory over the Griffs.

“We got caught up in the emotions of the game at times, and that took us away from focusing on our gameplan,” said Head Coach Mark Miyashita. 

For Canisius, the focus is now on the playoffs. The loss “was a great way to be able to learn, and I have no doubt that the guys will be in a better spot come this weekend,” said Miyashita.

Being the third seed is an advantage for the Griffs this round, as it gives them home field advantage. “It’s definitely something that we’ve got to take advantage of,” Miyashita explained, “because a lot of those teams that are on the coast aren’t used to the six-hour-plus bus rides like we are.” 

The Griffs are already familiar with their playoff opponent, Quinnipiac. When they faced off earlier this season they narrowly defeated the Bobcats 10–9 after scoring three goals with under five minutes left to steal a win away from home. Still, the Griffs are not taking their previous success as a sign of things to come: “Obviously every game you try to learn from things that they’ve done, but that was pretty early in conference play,” said Miyashita, “so there’s been a lot of things that teams have done and gotten better at in the meantime.”

The first round will be played Saturday at noon at the Demske Sports Complex. If the Griffs win this week, they would advance to the semifinals, held on May 1 at either Sacred Heart or Siena. The MAAC Championship will be held between the winners of the semis on May 7.