The Canisius College men's lacrosse team nearly rallied from an eight-goal deficit but in the end, the team couldn't complete its comeback attempt as Marist held on for a 13-10 victory on Saturday afternoon. The loss drops the Griffs to 2-3 on the season and 1-1 in MAAC play, while the Red Foxes improve to 4-4 and 2-0 versus league foes.

“We certainly got kicked in the teeth and took a ton of body blows in the first 25 minutes,” said Canisius head coach Randy Mearns. “Down 8-0, we asked ourselves in our second timeout 'which way are we going to go? We can fold up the tent or start punching back. It's that simple.' I am real proud of the answer. We clawed our way back into the game and I loved our resolve. However, the fact remains that we're not going to win many games playing for 35 minutes. It's that simple.”

Sophomore Connor Kearnan once again led the Griffs attack with four points, scoring two goals and adding two assists. Senior Nick Tuttle registered his second-straight hat trick, while freshman Mario Caito posted the first three points of his collegiate career with two goals and one assist.

Senior Vince Gravino, junior Lewis Vaccaro and sophomore Steven Coss rounded out the scoring for the Griffs with a goal apiece. Junior Jeff Edwards paced the Canisius attack by matching his career high with three assists.

Sophomore Liam Ganzhorn recorded nine saves between the pipes, while defender Brendan Barren led the Griffs with a career-best five ground balls.

It was a slow start to the game that doomed Canisius in the end. The Red Foxes scored all three goals in the first period and then added the first five scores in the second frame for a commanding lead. Marist completed the run with a man-up tally with 4:51 left in the half for an eight-goal advantage.

Canisius, however, quickly turned the momentum into its favor. Tuttle ended the 26-plus minute drought with an unassisted tally with 3:52 left in the second. Gravino followed with a rebound goal just 16 seconds later before Kearnan scored another 10 ticks after that. Caito and Coss then added tallies just 16 seconds apart as the Griffs completed its 5-0 run in a 98-second span. Marist reclaimed its four-goal lead, 9-5, but Caito scored with just two ticks remaining in the second as Canisius finished the half on a 6-1 run for the 9-6 halftime score.

The momentum carried over into the third quarter as Tuttle scored a man-up goal with 10:57 remaining before Kearnan added his second goal of the day with 4:04 left as Canisius pulled back within one, 9-8, after three quarters of play. Overall, the Griffs used an 8-1 run in just under 15 minutes of action to get back within one tally for the first time since the score was 1-0.

In the fourth quarter, Marist opened the scoring just 44 seconds into the period to go back ahead by two before Vaccaro responded for the Griffs for the 10-9 score. However, the Red Foxes answered with three-straight goals in just over three minutes of play to stretch its advantage to four before holding on for the 13-10 victory.

Marist finished wtih a 34-30 advantage in shots on the day and held a slight edge in faceoffs, 14-13.

John Vigh led the Red Foxes with six points on four goals and two assists, while Brian Corrigan recorded nine saves to earn the victory in net.

The Griffs look to return to their winning ways next Saturday with a home contest against Monmouth. Faceoff at the Demske Sports Complex is scheduled for 7 p.m. with the game shown live on ESPN3.

Game Notes: Kearnan has recorded at least four points in four-straight games, the first Griff to accomplish the feat since Sean Semler had a five-game run during the 2000 campaign … Senior defender Rich Stapleton recorded an assist on Caito's goal with two seconds remaining in the first half, the first point of his collegiate career … The team that wins the faceoff battle on the day in Canisius games this season is now 5-0 … The Griffs were attempting to go 2-0 in MAAC play for the first time since the 2008 season … Canisius' failure to score in the first period marked the first time this season that the Griffs did not tally a goal in a regulation frame.