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Lacrosse Earns Important Conference Win, Tops Siena 9-8

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. ? Boosted by an early surge from Brett Leonard and a dominating game from Kevin Hill, the VMI Keydet Lacrosse team knocked off the Siena Saints Saturday afternoon, 9-8. With the victory, VMI moves to 5-6 overall, and 4-1 in the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference. Siena drops to 7-5 and 1-3 in conference play.

The Keydets came into the day holding third place in the MAAC, just one game behind both Canisius and Providence for the conference lead. VMI will now await the results of those teams' contests later today, as the Keydets continue to seek a berth in the 2008 MAAC Tournament.

On this Saturday afternoon, VMI took the early lead against Siena, as the Keydets came out firing for the second straight game. Just seven seconds into the contest, Tim Moran found Hill with a pass, which the Keydet senior put past heralded Siena goalie Brent Herbst to give VMI an early 1-0 advantage.

The Keydets did not let up, as Leonard beat Herbst less than 40 seconds later. Less than a minute into the game, VMI had a lightning-quick 2-0 lead. At the 11:56 mark, the Keydets added to their advantage, as Leonard scored his 12th goal of the season. The goal, assisted by Hill, gave VMI a 3-0 edge in the first period.

Siena responded, as Kenny Mazzone beat Sean McCoy to make it 3-1, but Hill pushed the edge back to three for the Keydets. The senior attack scored his second goal of the opening frame at the 5:50 mark, giving the Keydets a 4-1 lead, which they held through the remainder of the period. VMI out-shot Siena 11-2 in the opening frame, and posted a 66% success rate on face-offs in the first quarter.

The Saints rallied early in the second period, as they quickly cut the lead to one, 4-3. Leonard responded for VMI, as with the Keydets a man-up, Hill found the sophomore for his third goal of the contest.

The marker gave VMI a 5-3 lead, and was historic as it moved Hill into a tie for second place on the all-time VMI Lacrosse assist list. Hill now has 73 career assists, tying him with Tim Nolan, who played at the Institute from 1988 through 1991. The two are fourteen off the all-time record, set by Rob Worrell in the late 90's.

With VMI up by two, the Keydets tried to put the game away. Matt Harrison scored his 13th goal of the season, and Hill added his third of the game to make it 7-3. VMI held that four-goal cushion going into halftime, as the Keydets had outshot Siena 22-9 in the first 30 minutes of play. The VMI offense had already managed seven goals on Siena's Herbst, whose Goals-Against-Average coming into the contest was under six.

The Keydets kept pouring on, as a returning Jacob Weimer pushed the VMI advantage to five to open the third period. Weimer's goal was assisted by Leonard at the 14:17 mark, and marked a successful return from a leg injury for the Bear, Del. native.

Siena mounted a rally, as the Saints fired ten shots at VMI's McCoy in the third period, scoring on three of them. The Saints' third quarter offense was marked by an 80% success rate in the face-off X. The result was VMI's lead being cut to just two, 8-6.

With VMI up by a pair of goals entering the final 15 minutes, the Saints continued their push. Ryan Duggan and Matt Girsh scored in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter, and the game was tied at eight. At the 6:41 mark however, VMI's Hill beat Herbst, giving VMI a 9-8 lead. The goal was Hill's fourth of the game, and the senior now has 16 goals in conference play.

In spite of peppering VMI goalie McCoy with fourteen fourth-quarter shots, the Saints could not score again, and Hill's goal accounted for the final, winning margin.

On the day, the Keydets were led by Hill, Leonard, McCoy, and Leonard Weschler. Hill's seven points give him 34 on the season, tops for the Keydets, while Leonard now has 13 points in his last two games. McCoy made 12 saves on the day, seven of them in the fourth quarter, to out-duel Herbst and ensure the VMI win.

Weschler, a sophomore face-off specialist, battled Siena standout Scott Montgomery all day. Montgomery, who came in with a 61% face-off success rate which placed him in the top-10 in NCAA Division I, was held to just 8-16 by VMI's Weschler.

The Saints were led by Duggan and Bryan Hale, who each scored two goals in the losing cause. MAAC pre-season Player of the Year Girsh added a goal.

The Keydets return to action next Saturday, April 19, as they host the current MAAC co-leaders, the Canisius Golden Griffins. The game at Foster Stadium is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., and before the contest, the nine VMI seniors will be honored for their contributions to the program.
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Players Mentioned

Matt Harrison

#18 Matt Harrison

M
6' 0"
Senior
Kevin Hill

#5 Kevin Hill

A
6' 0"
Senior
Brett Leonard

#10 Brett Leonard

A/M
5' 11"
Sophomore
Sean McCoy

#3 Sean McCoy

G
6' 2"
Sophomore
Tim Moran

#11 Tim Moran

M
5' 9"
Sophomore
Jacob Weimer

#33 Jacob Weimer

A
5' 10"
Sophomore
Leonard Weschler

#30 Leonard Weschler

M
6' 1"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Matt Harrison

#18 Matt Harrison

6' 0"
Senior
M
Kevin Hill

#5 Kevin Hill

6' 0"
Senior
A
Brett Leonard

#10 Brett Leonard

5' 11"
Sophomore
A/M
Sean McCoy

#3 Sean McCoy

6' 2"
Sophomore
G
Tim Moran

#11 Tim Moran

5' 9"
Sophomore
M
Jacob Weimer

#33 Jacob Weimer

5' 10"
Sophomore
A
Leonard Weschler

#30 Leonard Weschler

6' 1"
Sophomore
M