Lacrosse Closes Out Season With Dramatic Overtime Loss, 12-11

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Lacrosse Closes Out Season With Dramatic Overtime Loss, 12-11

LEXINGTON, Va. – John Minieri scored the tying goal with three seconds to go in regulation, and Tom Vivian added the game-winner in overtime as the Canisius Golden Griffins survived a 7-0 VMI run and knocked off the Keydets, 12-11 in overtime, to close out the regular season for both teams in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) men's lacrosse contest played Saturday afternoon in Lexington.

VMI (2-13, 0-8 MAAC) had rallied from down 7-3 with a 7-0 run, capped by three consecutive Drew Leonard goals early in the fourth, but Canisius (6-7, 5-3 MAAC) came back with three scores in the final 2:36 of regulation. After cutting the margin to 11-10, Canisius took its final timeout with 34 seconds left.

Coming out of the break, the Golden Griffins' first attempt went wide, and Keydet goalie Sean McCoy made a spectacular kick save on Minieri's second try. With the clock winding down and the pro-VMI crowd cheering, Jones found Minieri to McCoy's right, about 12 feet from the net. The Canisius midfielder then fired a low shot toward the outside portion of the net for the tying goal. The visitors won the opening face-off of overtime, and held possession until Vivian's game-winner that came with 2:01 left in the extra frame.

In the setback, VMI was paced by four players; Drew Leonard, Colin Bosse, Tim Moran and Stephen Robarge. Leonard and Bosse each had three goals, while Bosse also chipped in an assist. Senior Moran had two goals and two assists, and closes out his storied VMI career ranked in the program's top eight in goals, assists and total points.

Robarge, meanwhile, grabbed nine ground balls to set a new VMI single season record with 124. He was also 16 for 27 in face-off attempts as he bids to become the national statistical champion in face-off percentage.

Canisius jumped on the scoreboard first on the warm, sunny day, as Jimmy Haney beat McCoy less than 90 seconds into the game to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. The Keydets came right back, as Bosse scored the first of his trio of goals to tie the score, 1-1, with 3:05 gone by in the opening quarter. From there, VMI dominated for a lengthy stretch. In fact, over the next 3:17, the home team had a 6-0 edge in shots, and that paid dividends when Bobby Davis beat Canisius netminder Sean Callahan to put the Keydets ahead, 2-1.

VMI looked to go up two goals, as the Keydets pressed Canisius for the next several minutes. Callahan made four saves in the span of less than two minutes, and after a turnover, the visitors got back on the board. Mike Benzinger beat McCoy with 2:22 left in the first, knotting the score at 2 apiece, which would be the score after the first 15 minutes of play.

After 20 total shots were tried in the first quarter, there were just six such shots in the opening seven minutes of the second period, as the pace of the game slowed down considerably. That sixth shot came off the stick of Alex Caldiero, and it beat McCoy to give Canisius the lead once more, 3-2. Jones went on to score the next two goals, and with 4:05 left in the half, the Golden Griffins held a 5-2 edge. Thanks to seven turnovers in the final four minutes, that would be the score at halftime.

The visitors pushed their margin out to 6-2 3:23 into the third quarter, thanks to a man-up goal by Simon Giourmetakis. Tim Moran answered less than two minutes later, ending the VMI scoring drought and cutting the deficit to three, 6-3. The Keydets had gone 28:55 without a goal, dating back to Davis' score in the first, but a run was coming. First, Caldiero added his second of the game to put Canisius back up by four, 7-3 with 8:38 left in the third.

Davis got the Keydet run started at the 6:51 mark, scoring off a dish from Moran to make it 7-4. Robarge took the ensuing face-off, and VMI scored on a quick strike Will Baker to Jacob Weimer pass, making it 7-5. The next 6:40 was back-and-forth, with multiple turnovers and neither squad able to get off a sustained offensive threat. Finally, the Keydets did so with just 10 seconds left in the quarter, as senior Brett Leonard found Bosse for VMI's third straight goal, reducing the margin to 7-6 after three periods.

The home team kept its momentum as play began in the fourth, and finally found the equalized 3:22 in, as Moran found Drew Leonard to square the game at seven. The Keydets won the face-off yet again, their eighth in nine tries in the half, and Leonard scored yet again. This time, the goal came on an individual effort, as the sophomore curled around the net and tucked the shot past Canisius keeper Callahan to give VMI its first lead since 2-1, 8-7. They would add on to that cushion at the 7:42 mark, as Leonard scored his third goal in less than four minutes, notching the marker off a pass from Davis to push the lead to two, 9-7.

Moran got back in the show three minutes later, as he scored off a Bosse dish to end the seven-goal run and give VMI its biggest lead of the day, 10-7. The marker came with 4:27 to go, and would prove to be the final goal in Moran's illustrious career.

The visitors came back just 30 seconds later, ending a 19:45 scoreless drought and cutting their deficit to two, 10-8. Bosse added a man-up goal, making VMI a perfect two for two on extra-man chances and putting the home team up, 11-8 with just 3:10 to go.

Jones came right back for Canisius, beating McCoy with 2:36 on the clock to make it 11-9. Robarge won the ensuing draw, but a pair of VMI turnovers gave their opponents a chance to set up offensively, and Brendan O'Hagen beat McCoy to cut the margin to one and set the stage for the closing moments. Ironically, after Minieri's tying goal, Robarge captured the face-off and the ground ball, giving him nine for the day and the new Keydet single-season record.

In overtime, the Golden Griffins took the opening face-off and called for time. 1:59 later, Vivian scored to end the contest.

For Canisius, eight players had at least one point, led by Jones' five that came on three goals and two assists. Callahan had eight saves for the visiting squad, including six in the first half.

In addition to the exploits of Drew Leonard, Robarge, Moran and Bosse, VMI saw Brett Leonard move into sole possession of 12th place on the program's all-time assist list with his helper late in the third period. In addition, McCoy made 12 saves in net, solidifying his spot in fifth place on VMI's career list.
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Players Mentioned

Will Baker

#1 Will Baker

M
5' 11"
Freshman
Colin Bosse

#4 Colin Bosse

A
5' 10"
Sophomore
Bobby Davis

#12 Bobby Davis

M
5' 11"
Junior
Brett Leonard

#10 Brett Leonard

M
5' 11"
Senior
Drew Leonard

#34 Drew Leonard

A
6' 2"
Sophomore
Sean McCoy

#3 Sean McCoy

G
6' 2"
Senior
Tim Moran

#11 Tim Moran

M
5' 9"
Senior
Stephen Robarge

#37 Stephen Robarge

M-F/O
5' 10"
Sophomore
Jacob Weimer

#33 Jacob Weimer

A
5' 10"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Will Baker

#1 Will Baker

5' 11"
Freshman
M
Colin Bosse

#4 Colin Bosse

5' 10"
Sophomore
A
Bobby Davis

#12 Bobby Davis

5' 11"
Junior
M
Brett Leonard

#10 Brett Leonard

5' 11"
Senior
M
Drew Leonard

#34 Drew Leonard

6' 2"
Sophomore
A
Sean McCoy

#3 Sean McCoy

6' 2"
Senior
G
Tim Moran

#11 Tim Moran

5' 9"
Senior
M
Stephen Robarge

#37 Stephen Robarge

5' 10"
Sophomore
M-F/O
Jacob Weimer

#33 Jacob Weimer

5' 10"
Senior
A