The Canisius College men's lacrosse team nearly rallied from down three goals in the closing minutes against Saint Joseph's but the Hawks held on for the 7-6 victory at the Demske Sports Complex. The loss drops the Griffs to 0-5 on the season and 0-2 in MAAC play, while Saint Joseph's improves to 3-5 and 1-1 in the MAAC.

Junior John Minieri and sophomore Adam Jones each tallied two goals to lead the Canisius attack, while junior Matt Barkas and freshman Jimmy Haney each added a score.

Sophomore Nick LoCoco and freshman Simon Giourmetakis paced the Griffs attack with a game-high two assists.

Senior Bryan Jack posted six saves in net to anchor the Canisius attack.

The Hawks tallied the only two goals of the first period to grab the early advantage. The teams then traded goals three times in the second stanza as Saint Joseph's headed into intermission with a 5-3 advantage.

Jones scored his first goal of the game off a feed from Giourmetakis to help the Griffs pull to within one, 5-4, with 12:44 remaining in the third quarter. However, Saint Joseph's would keep Canisius off the scoreboard for the next 26 minutes while building its lead to three, 7-4.

Canisius started its comeback when Haney found the back of the net off a pass from LoCoco with 1:27 left in the game. Junior Tim Rowley won the ensuing faceoff and Jones quickly buried his second goal of the game just 23 seconds later, cutting Canisius' deficit to one with 1:04 left in the game.

Rowley would once again win the faceoff, giving Canisius possession with a minute left in the game. However, Saint Joseph's would force a turnover behind the net and the clock would run out on the Griffs.

Charlie Gorman led the Hawks with three goals, while Erik Hotaling recorded 10 saves in goal to earn the victory.

Canisius returns to action next Saturday with a road contest at Providence. Game time is slated for 1 p.m.

Game Notes: LoCoco extended his scoring streak to 21 games, the 10th-longest run in the country ... Rowley won 9-of-14 faceoffs and picked up a career-best 10 ground balls. He is the first Griff to scoop up 10 ground balls since Brad Favero against Siena on April 29, 2005 ... Barkas' goal was the second of the his career for the defender.