men's lacrosse News - July, 2009 Archive

May 28: The post-season accolades continue for St. Lawrence University lacrosse players PJ Santora, Peter Carroll and Alex Slauson, all of the Class of 2009. Santora has been named the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's Division III Specialty Player Award, while Carroll and Slauson earned USILA Academic All-America honors.

May 19: The postseason honors continued to roll in for the St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team on Tuesday, as four Saints landed on USILA All-America teams. Senior P.J. Santora has been named a First Team All-America, while classmate Alex Slauson is a Third Team choice. Meanwhile, senior Peter Carroll and junior Trevor Scoon earned Honorable Mention status.

Santora, who is a three-time Liberty League First Team selection, is the first First Team All-America selection for St. Lawrence under head coach Mike Mahoney and the first at St. Lawrence since 1988 (Tim Smith).
"P.J. (Santora) has been such a special player for the past four seasons," said Coach Mahoney. "His talents in the face-off ‘x' helped us extend leads and claw our way back into games. This truly shows he is one of the premier face-off middies in the country."

Santora finished the 2009 season with a face-off win percentage of .644 having won 232-of-360 draws. The Cos Cob, CT native also chipped in two goals and three assists while scooping up 111 ground balls.

Slauson, the 2009 Liberty League Player of the Year, landed Third Team honors after a brilliant campaign that included 51 points. The Shelburne, VT native scored 35 goals and assisted on 16 others to become a dominant scoring threat in the conference. Slauson finished his senior season with five game-winning goals, five man-up goals and 26 ground balls.

May 18: Three members of the St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team have been invited to participate in the annual USILA North-South Senior All-Star game. Peter Carroll, Alex Slauson and Carl Festa will suit up for the Division III North Team on Friday, May 22 at Harvard Stadium in Boston, MA.

May 9: The No. 16 St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team saw its 2009 season come to an end on Saturday in Middlebury, VT, as the No. 7 Panthers of Middlebury College used a 7-0 third quarter to grab control of the contest en route to a 15-11 victory in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.

May 6: The No. 16 St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team won the program's first ever NCAA Tournament game at North Country Field on Wednesday night, as the Saints used a nine-goal run en route to a 14-7 win over No. 19 Nazareth. The First Round victory sends St. Lawrence to Middlebury on Saturday where they will face the No. 7 Panthers (13-2).

The Scarlet and Brown moved to 13-3 on the year having won their fourth straight game behind the solid play of senior goaltender Thomas Hollingsworth. Nazareth's season comes to an end at 11-7 after earning a bid to the tournament with a fantastic run to the 2009 Empire 8 Tournament title.

"Nazareth and Coach Randall really have a lot to be proud of, as they played hard and had a great run to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament," said St. Lawrence head coach Mike Mahoney. "I thought we worked hard and got out to a nice lead. What I was more impressed with was that when Nazareth made its run, we responded in a very positive way."

St. Lawrence senior John Allen opened the game's scoring at 2:01 with a goal on Golden Flyer netminder Todd Dermody. However, Nazareth came back with two goals to take a 2-1 cushion, as Mark DeCirce and Joe Jacob-Ferderbar beat Hollingsworth at 3:42 and 9:28, respectively.

May 1: St. Lawrence University seniors Collin Moon and Peter Carroll each scored three goals while classmate John Allen chipped in two more as the No. 18 Saints defeated a tenacious Union College team on Friday afternoon at North Country Field to advance to the 2009 Liberty League championship game. The Scarlet and Brown will host arch rival Clarkson University on Sunday, May 3 at noon for a bid to the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

The victory moves St. Lawrence to 11-3 on the season, while Union's 2009 campaign comes to an end with a mark of 7-7.

"Union came out and played tough as we expected and earned an early lead," said St. Lawrence head coach Mike Mahoney, who was named the Liberty League's Coach of the Year on Thursday. "I am really proud of the way our veteran leaders continue to respond this year with their backs against the wall. They came up big again today and lifted us to the championship game."

The Dutchmen, the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament, came out playing with confidence and built a 4-1 lead in the second quarter. Ian Hunter and Scott Garibaldi scored to put the visitors on top 2-0, and after a goal by Carroll to make it 2-1, Ted McKenna scored the opening two tallies of the second quarter for a 4-1 Dutchmen advantage.

Union goalie Christopher Keinath helped keep the Saints' offense quiet early, as he came up with nine saves in the first half including five in the first quarter.

May 3: The St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse Class of 2009 finished their careers with a perfect 32-0 record in Liberty League play, as the No. 18 Saints dominated their cross-town rival Clarkson University on Sunday in the 2009 conference title game by the score of 15-6. Senior Collin Moon earned Tournament MVP honors after scoring three goals while classmate P.J. Santora won the game's opening 15 face-offs to set the tone for the Saints' offense.

St. Lawrence (12-3) will learn their opponent for the 2009 NCAA Tournament tonight at 10:00pm when the bracket is released. Clarkson finishes the season with a 10-5 record.

"This is truly a very special group," said St. Lawrence head men's lacrosse coach Mike Mahoney (picture below). "To come out and play with such poise and fire against a talented team like Clarkson speaks to our senior leadership. I'm so proud of this team and what they've accomplished, but we have to keep focused and begin preparing for another tough game this week."

Coach Mahoney's team came in clicking on all cylinders on Sunday, as the Saints built a 4-0 lead in the first quarter. Seniors John Allen and Kyle Benton put the home team up 2-0 midway through the first, while Santora added a highlight-reel goal only seven seconds after Benton's tally for a 3-0 lead. Senior Alex Slauson, the 2009 Liberty League Player of the Year, capped the first quarter scoring with an unassisted goal at 14:03.

Apr. 23: The No. 16 St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team's eight-game winning streak came to a halt on Thursday afternoon, as the Saints were handed a 13-4 loss by No. 9 Cortland State in a contest that included 23 total penalties. Senior Peter Carroll scored twice for the Scarlet and Brown, while fellow classmates Collin Moon and John Allen added tallies in the loss.

St. Lawrence (9-3) finished ahead of Cortland State (12-2) in nearly every statistical category, including shots (39-33), ground balls (41-31), face-offs (16-of-20) and clears (17-of-17). However, the Saints also matched their season high in turnovers with 22 and finished 0-for-11 on man-up chances which allowed Cortland State to win the battle of nationally-ranked foes.

"I thought we did a lot of positive things today," said St. Lawrence head coach Mike Mahoney. "We simply turned the ball over too often and didn't capitalize on our chances, and a great team like Cortland is going to make you pay for your mistakes."

The Red Dragons jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first half to seize control of the momentum. Brian Krol scored only 2:37 into regulation on St. Lawrence senior goalie Thomas Hollingsworth, while Eric Parah followed for a 2-0 Red Dragon lead to cap the first quarter scoring. Cortland State netminder Matt Hipenbecker was the difference for the home team in the opening 15 minutes, as he made six key saves that kept St. Lawrence off the scoreboard.

Apr. 25: The No. 16 St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team celebrated "Senior Day" on Saturday, as the program recognized the 11 members of the Class of 2009 that were playing their final regular season game at North Country Field. The seniors responded by scoring nine of the team's 13 goals in a tidy 13-9 win against Hamilton College to clinch the Saints' fourth consecutive Liberty League regular season crown.

St. Lawrence (10-3, 6-0) won its 30th consecutive Liberty League game after outshooting the Continentals

(3-10, 1-5) 54-26 in the contest. Senior P.J. Santora was a sparkplug for the Saints, as he scored a goal and won 19-of-25 face-offs while scooping up a game-high 11 ground balls.

"P.J. (Santora) showed why he is one of the premier face-off specialists in the country today," said

St. Lawrence head coach Mike Mahoney. "Hamilton tried several different players in the face-off circle to try and neutralize him, but he was still able to come away with crucial wins that gave us possessions late in the game."

Though St. Lawrence built a two-goal cushion after the first quarter, Hamilton remained within striking distance thanks to the play of rookie goalie Max Vaickus. Though he allowed four goals, he helped the Continentals weather the storm early with nine saves in the opening stanza.

Apr. 18: The No. 18 St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team used an eight-goal run and shut down Rensselaer's offense for nearly 40 minutes en route to an 11-5 victory over the Red Hawks in Troy, NY on Saturday afternoon. The win is the 29th consecutive Liberty League victory for the Scarlet and Brown, which clinched at least a share of the conference's regular season title.

The Saints improved to 9-2 on the season and remained perfect in conference play (5-0). The Red Hawks fall to 5-7 overall and 3-2 in league play.

St. Lawrence jumped out of the gate offensively with back-to-back goals only 1:12 seconds apart for a 2-0 advantage. Junior Scott Smith opened the scoring while senior captain Alex Slauson followed with his first of three goals. After Rensselaer got on the board at 3:07 when Josh Secora made it 2-1, Slauson capped the first quarter scoring for a 3-1 lead at the 8:48 mark.

Rensselaer would jab back to start the second quarter, as the home team scored three tallies in a span of only 2:52 to take their first lead at 4-3. Brett Evans scored a man-up tally at 2:01 and Secora evened the score only 13 seconds later at 3-3. Nick Billy then put the Red Hawks ahead by a goal at 4-3 with 10:07 to play in the second stanza.