St. John’s Lacrosse continued its season-long losing streak Tuesday at home, losing to Siena 12-3 and dropping its record to 0-7.
Head coach Jason Miller commended his team’s constant hard work, but didn’t hesitate to vent his frustration.
“It just wasn’t there for us today,” Miller said. “Give Siena a lot of credit. They were well coached and well prepared. We’re just not putting out our best effort.”
The Red Storm has been searching for that winning formula all season, but has failed to get that elusive first win.
“Sometimes we struggle on offense, sometimes it is defense. Today we struggled all around,” admitted Miller. “It’s like plugging holes in a dam.”
Siena charged to a 4-0 first quarter lead, highlighted by the Saints’ Mike Lashomb netting two goals. St. John’s only recorded one shot in the opening quarter. Trevor Michaelsen looked to have his eighth goal of the season in the first, but the goal was rescinded due to an illegal equipment penalty as Michaelsen was sent to the box for a three minute penalty.
St. John’s got on the board in the second quarter when Tom Michaelsen wrapped himself around the goal post and slipped the ball under Siena’s goalkeeper, his third goal of the season.
Siena’s Matt Girsh began his offensive onslaught in the second, firing a one-bouncer past Storm keeper, Dan Goldberg. Girsh, Siena’s points leader, finished with five goals. Siena added three more goals before the half, and St. John’s got their second goal from Dom DeNapoli, his first of the season.
Down 8-2 at halftime, Miller emphatically coaxed his team to step up its play, but St. John’s began the half with sloppy turnovers and penalties. Reggie Davis’ unnecessary roughness penalty gave Siena a man-advantage opportunity, which it quickly capitalized on when Girsh scored his third of the day, taking a centering pass and firing a quick shot past Goldberg.
St. John’s was again shut out in the third quarter, thanks to Siena keeper Brent Herbst’s five saves. Siena scored three more before the quarter ended: two by Girsh, and Lashomb’s third goal of the game.
With a commanding lead, Siena gave its starters a rest in the fourth quarter. The lone goal of the quarter came from Red Storm’s Drew Schanen on the Johnnies second power-play opportunity.
St. John’s won the battle on the ground, winning 23 ground balls to Siena’s 21. Red Storm’s face-off specialist, Jack Rosson, remained consistent at the X, winning nine of 19 face-offs.
Looking forward, Miller feels some changes may be necessary, but the team’s practice regimen will remain the same.
“We need to continue working hard everyday,” he said. “Eventually that should translate onto the field. We need everyone to step up at once, all 40 guys.”
St. John’s will travel to Rutgers on Saturday for an ECAC conference match-up.
St. John’s Lacrosse dropped its sixth straight game to open the season on Saturday, losing to Lehigh 7-3 on the road.
Sophomore Garrett Mitchell scored his first two goals of the season, both coming in the second half. His first goal brought the Johnnies within two as he took a pass from Tom Michaelsen in front of the Lehigh net. His second goal was unassisted with less than one minute remaining in the game.
The Red Storm got off to its fastest start of the season when Jack Rosson won the opening face-off and sprinted down the field, scoring before 14 seconds expired from the clock.
St. John’s defense, led by seniors Tim LaMare, Ryan Parker and Mike Luyster and defensive midfielders senior Chris DeMarco and junior Matt Viscusi successfully killed six of seven Red Storm penalties. Freshman Dan Cremens also made an impact on the defensive end of the field during the second half.
Sophomore goalie Dan Goldberg, who lost his third game of the season, had 10 saves in the net for St. John’s, his third consecutive double-digit save effort.
After Mitchell’s third quarter goal, Lehigh scored three consecutive goals, putting St. John’s first win out of reach. Richard Bradley and Brian Bienemann led the Mountain Hawks in scoring with two goals each.
