SAINTS TO PLAY CLARKSON IN LIBERY LEAGUE

SEMIFINALS ON FRIDAY

Apr. 29: The 17th ranked St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team finished the 2006 Liberty League regular season with an undefeated record, as the Saints defeated Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY by the score of 16-3 on Saturday afternoon.

The Saints (11-3, 6-0) had clinched the conference regular season title with wins over RPI and Clarkson last week. However, head coach Mike Mahoney knows how important entering the Liberty League tournament with momentum is, and St. Lawrence will have just that. The victory over Vassar is the Saints' tenth in a row, as the squad has not lost since returning from their trip to Florida on March 29th.

St. Lawrence opened the game on Saturday with nine straight goals to take a big lead in the first half. Junior Nick Mastine got the visitors rolling a mere 42 seconds into regulation as he scored to put the Saints up 1-0. The goal was merely the start of the offensive attack, as St. Lawrence used their quickness and heads-up passing to blow the game open in the opening quarter. Sophomore Cory Yawger made the game 2-0 4:59 into the opening quarter, followed by goals from sophomores Mike Long and Derek Hansen and first year students Tyler Moore and Alex Slauson to take a 6-0 lead after the first fifteen minutes.

The second quarter would be no better for the Brewers, who were simply overmatched by the Liberty League's top team. Junior Brendan Lynch scored at 3:36 of the second quarter to extend the lead, followed by goals from Hansen and Mastine to make the score 9-0 midway through the second quarter. Vassar's Steven Cataldo would break up Saints' goaltender Justin Demuth's shutout bid with 5:29 to go in the second quarter, making the score 9-1.

However, sophomore Kevin Russell avenged that goal by scoring just over three minutes later and Long scored with only 35 seconds left in the first half to complete the scoring and give the Saints an 11-1 halftime cushion.

With the game in hand, the Saints played a much more preventive style in the second half. Demuth was replaced between the pipes in the third quarter after making five saves in the first half while allowing only one goal. His replacement in the third was sophomore Frank Maguire, who made three saves on four shots in fifteen minutes of action. In the third, the Saints would score three more times, with goals coming from Hansen, junior Trevor Rainville, and Lynch. After 45 minutes, the Saints led 14-2 and had the game under control.

First year student Thomas Hollingsworth took over in net for the Saints in the fourth, like Maguire stopping three of four shots. Junior Andy Centauro scored 1:30 into the final frame to give the Saints a 15-2 lead. Although Michael Littlefield would fire a shot past Hollingsworth at 4:06 of the fourth, first year student Collin Moon would score a man-up at 10:50 to complete the scoring in the Saints' tenth straight win.

Hansen led the Saints with four points (3g,1a), while Centauro, Long, Moore, Slauson, and Lynch each finished with three points a piece. Freshman PJ Santora won 9-of-16 faceoffs and entered the game ranked second in the country in that category.

St. Lawrence will be the No. 1 seed in the 2006 Liberty League tournament and will host archrival Clarkson University in the semifinals on Friday, May 5th at North Country Field in Canton, NY. Clarkson won the No. 4 seed in the tournament with an 11-10 win over Skidmore on Saturday afternoon. The time of the semifinal match-up will be determined on Monday.