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Canisius University Athletics

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Canisius attackman Jacob Buck in shown cradling the ball during game action at Michigan on Feb. 22, 2022
Dave Donoher | U-M Athletics
9
Canisius CAN 1-3
20
Winner Denver DEN 3-2
Canisius CAN
1-3
9
Final
20
Denver DEN
3-2
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Canisius CAN 3 3 1 2 9
Denver DEN 4 3 8 5 20

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse |

Strong Second Half Sparks No. 14 Denver Past Men’s Lacrosse

No. 14 Denver out-scored Canisius, 13-3, in the second half to break open a one-goal game and post a 20-9 victory in collegiate men's lacrosse action Sunday at the Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium in Denver.
 
Noah Manning and JJ Sillstrop both finished with four-point outings as each recorded a hat trick and added an assist to pace a balanced Pioneers (3-2) attack that saw 15 different players record a goal. Alex Simmons tallied three points on a goal and two assists while Alec Stathakis was 15-of-21 at the face-off X with a game-high 10 ground balls.  
 
Senior Jacob Buck tallied two goals and added two assists to pace the Golden Griffins (1-3). Redshirt freshman Colin Kelly posted his fourth hat trick of the season while sophomore Keegan Kozack added two goals.
 
Holding a 7-6 lead at the start of the second half, Denver erupted for seven unanswered goals over the opening 12:08 of the third quarter to build a 15-6 advantage. Seven different players found the back of the net for the Pioneers during the game-changing spurt, highlighted by consecutive tallies from Manning.
 
Buck closed out the third quarter scoring to temporarily halt the Denver run, but the Pioneers continued to maintain control in the fourth, beginning the frame with five straight goals to build its largest lead of the afternoon, 20-7. Kozack recorded the last two goals of the game over the last 7:22 of the contest to determine the final 11-goal margin.
 
Earlier in the contest, Denver held a 3-1 lead before back-to-back goals from juniors Ethan Coughlin and Nathan Conry knotted the score at 3-3 midway through the opening frame.  
 
The teams proceeded to trade goals the through the majority of the first half before Sillstrop struck for his first of the afternoon with 3:27 until the halftime break, giving the Pioneers the lead and setting the stage for Denver's second-half outbreak.

Head Coach Mark Miyashita's Postgame Comments
"We had an outstanding first half today. It was a battle back and forth. We were really excited about where we stood going into the half, but once again, we came out flat and gave up a couple of quick goals and really let that derail our momentum. We've got to be better with our mental resiliency and focus; forgetting the last play and going out and making the next one to not let teams string together the type of runs like Denver went on in the second half today.
 
"In the first half we hustled all over the field in all facets and phases of the game. We weren't overwhelmed by the moment of playing a top-20 team. on their turf. Playing with the confidence that we did, and for each other, in the first half was great. Now, we've got to be able to do it for more than 30 minutes. That's the next challenge for us as a group and something that we talked about after our game on Tuesday and was a part of the conversation here after the game today.
 
"The good news is we've already done our introduction of Air Force earlier in the week, when we were anticipating playing them first when our travel plans were a little bit smoother than what they've actually been. So, the good news is we've already started to talk about what they do and how we want to tackle it. So, we'll take a little bit of downtime here this afternoon, have a great dinner and then get to work here this evening as a group. We got a great stretch in and had a nice postgame feast, so now it's just about taking the good and bottling that up and using it tomorrow with a quick turnaround. We're excited about the opportunity to go out and compete against another really great program in Air Force."
 
Game Notes
• Sunday's game served as the fifth meeting between Canisius and Denver.
• Canisius squared off against a ranked opponent in consecutive games for the first time since the 2013 season when it faced then-No. 5 Denver and then-No. 15 Cornell in back-to-back games.
• Denver out-shot Canisius, 55-42, for the contest, highlighted by an 18-5 edge in the third quarter.
• Denver was 2-for-3 in man-up situations while Canisius was 1-for-4.
• The Pioneers won 20-of-33 faceoffs contested during the contest, highlighted by an 8-of-10 effort in third quarter.
• Kelly became the first Canisius player to open the regular season with hat tricks in each of the first four games since Tim Spaulding did so to open the 2001
• Buck and Kelly both finished with multiple points in a game for the fourth straight contest.
• Senior Dylan McNally was 4-of-7 at the face-off X with two ground balls.
• Freshman Johnny Richiusa recorded a team-best six ground balls.
 
Up Next
Canisius returns to action Monday with a 1 p.m. (EST) contest against Air Force at Falcon Stadium at the United States Air Force Academy.
 
For all the latest updates on Canisius men's lacrosse, be sure to follow @GriffsMLax on Twitter and Instagram.
 
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