Box Score

CANTON, NY - The St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team turned in an outstanding defensive effort on Saturday afternoon, as the Saints turned back Union College at North Country Field by the score of 8-5. First-year student Jeff Goeke made 11 saves in his first collegiate start, and the Scarlet and Brown won for the 22nd straight time on their home turf in Liberty League play.

St. Lawrence, which outshot Union 41-25 and scooped up more ground balls as well (30-23), improves to 6-3 on the season and 1-1 in conference action. Meanwhile, the Dutchmen (7-2, 1-1) saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end much in part to 17 costly turnovers while their 30-point scorer Brendan Kinnane was held to merely one assist.

"That is as good of a team-win as we've had in a long time," said St. Lawrence head coach Mike Mahoney. "We rotated a lot of players throughout the game, and they all stepped up. Our preparation heading into today was key against a very tough (Union) team."

Sophomore Matt Pope opened the scoring only 3:52 into the first quarter when he beat Union netminder Sean Aaron. Though Scott Garibaldi would tie the game at 1-1 only 1:27 later, first-year student Tucker Garfield and sophomore Caldwell Rohrbach would cap the opening stanza's scoring for a 3-1 St. Lawrence lead.

With senior Trevor Scoon anchoring the Saints' defense and protecting Goeke, Rohrbach made it a 4-1 game at 8:33 of the second quarter. The Seattle, WA native beat his defender and fired a shot on net, and though it hit the post, Rohrbach scooped up the ground ball and scored on the rebound. Though Union's Robert Young capped the first half scoring with 3:32 to play, the Scarlet and Brown held a two-goal cushion at intermission, 4-2.

In what proved to be a hard-hitting and physical second half, sophomore Peter Carpenter opened the scoring at 4:30 to put the Saints ahead 5-2. Ted McKenna would get a goal back for Union late in the quarter, but senior CP Rahe's blistering shot with 1:07 left in the third beat Aaron to give St. Lawrence a 6-3 advantage with 15 minutes remaining in regulation.

Senior Nick Woodhull set the tone for the final frame only 16 seconds in, as the Bedford, NY native scooped up the opening face-off, sprinted the length of the field and ripped a shot past Aaron, giving the home team its largest lead at 7-3. Derek Mayer's unassisted goal at 3:31 pulled the Dutchmen back to within three goals at 7-4, but the Saints defense continued to cause turnovers and challenge every clearing attempt throughout the fourth quarter.

First-year student Dave Schoettler gave St. Lawrence its four-goal advantage back with an unassisted tally with 6:41 to play, as he bounced a low shot into the far corner of the net. Though Union's Andrew Higgins would pick up the game's only man-up goal with 3:52 to play to bring the scoring to 8-5, a pair of penalties in the final 2:24 would end the Dutchmen's chances of a late rally.

Rohrbach finished with a game-high three points, while first-year student Mac Johnson had a pair of assists for St. Lawrence. Meanwhile, Union held a solid advantage in the face-off circle, winning 12-of-17 draws, and finished 1-for-2 on man-up tries. Aaron closed with 13 saves in the loss for the visitors, while Goeke made 11 saves including five in the fourth quarter.

Union begins a four-game homestand against Williams on April 14. Faceoff is at 7 p.m. at Frank Bailey Field.