BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Virginia Military Institute men's lacrosse team fell victim to several quick runs by the Canisius College Golden Griffins Saturday afternoon. The Griffs put together several runs to claim a 19-7 non-conference win at the Demske Sports Complex.
VMI saw another hat trick from senior Mickey Hofmeister, who finished with three goals and one assist. Junior Mike DeBlasio ripped off two extra-man goals while freshman Brad Nardella and sophomore Dan Bull potted one goal apiece. Rookie Nick Dodd added an assist to the day.
Canisius had two players finish with six points as Austin Romantic had three goals and three helpers while Vince Gravino had five helpers and added a goal. Tim Edwards tallied one goal and three assists while faceoff man Brandon Bull finished with four markers. Billy Jacobbi also registered four goals and had an assist as well. Sam Connors had one goal and one assist while Cody Soberanes, Jeff Edwards, Cody Gould, Mike Vavonese and Jimmy May all had one goal. Kevin Collins posted an assist.
The Keydets (1-12) played two keepers, with Evan Windisch getting the start. The junior made three saves but allowed eight goals before he was spelled by freshman Michael Hutwelker, who played the final 42 minutes. Hutwelker made a career-high six saves.
Likewise, Canisius played two goalkeepers as Alex Govenettio made 14 saves in a winning effort. He was relieved for the final four minutes by Jeff Wilson, who made one save and did not allow a goal.
Neither team was afraid to pull the trigger on shots as Canisius took 43, while VMI managed 40. Hofmeister was efficient on the day, scoring three times on his five shots. DeBlasio took a team-high six attempts, scoring twice in man-up. Brandon Bull took a game-high eight shots.
The teams possessed the ball well as both sides finished with just 11 turnovers each. Canisius controlled the groundball efforts, picking up 33, including five by Vavonese. The Keydets collected with Ben Huger leading the way with five.
Faceoffs were a close battle all afternoon as VMI's Mitch Wilson, who is native to near-by Orchard Park, went 12-for-26 while Brandon Bull, who came into the game ranked in the top five in the country, won eight of his 16 chances. Keydet Brad Nardella picked up a win in two attempts while Canisius' Tim Edwards went five-for-eight.
The Keydets were perfect in transition, gaining the zone on all 12 qualifying attempts. Canisius failed to clear the ball just twice on 17 opportunities.
Both teams scored twice in extra-man opportunities, VMI doing so on three chances while Canisius had four man-up chances on four VMI penalties.
The Griffs jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter as four different players scored. Soberanes lead off the game, followed by Jacobbi. Romantic and Jacobbi scored Canisius' third and fourth goals, respectively, less than a minute apart. Brandon Bull added the fifth goal of the quarter.
Momentum continued for the Golden Griffins in the second quarter as Edwards, Vavonese and Jacobbi scored in succession in the first four minutes of the period. But the Keydets got three chances on the extra-man, scoring on two of those opportunities. Hofmeister extended his point streak to 13 games as he threw a pass to a waiting DeBlasio on the crease. The latter scored with 2:15 left in the half on a driving unassisted chance.
Canisius (7-6) opened the second half with a five-goal run, including a pair from Brandon Bull, who bookended tallies by Jacobbi, Romantic and Edwards. Hofmeister broke up the run with back-to-back tallies, with the first assisted by Dodd. Gravino scored the Griffs' final goal of the third quarter, but he was answered by Nardella, who tallied his seventh this season as time expired on the period.
The fourth quarter saw Canisius go on another run, this time one of four goals from four different sources. Gould lead off, followed by Brandon Bull, Connors and Romantic. Hofmeister netted his third of the day and 25th of the season with 9:13 to play in regulation, followed just over three minutes later by Dan Bull. May finished the day's scoring with 2:05 left on the board.
VMI returns home for its regular season finale next Saturday when the Keydets welcome in-state foe University of Richmond. Game time for the Commonwealth clash is set for noon at Drill Field #2 on the Institute's North Post.
