St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
4-2
Siena
2-2
11-Goal First Half Leads St. John's Over Siena
3/10/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
QUEENS, N.Y. - Playing in its third game over an eight-day span in three-different cities, the St. John's lacrosse team defeated Siena, 14-7, on Saturday afternoon at DaSilva Memorial Field.
The Red Storm (4-2) struck for 11 goals during the opening 30 minutes for its most-lopsided victory since Mar. 28, 2015 when the Johnnies defeated Providence, 17-7.
Saturday's win also moves St. John's to 3-0 at DaSilva Memorial Field this season, the first time the Johnnies have started 3-0 in Queens since 2014.
Following being held without a point over his previous two tilts, Corey Haynes erupted with a pair of goals and three assists for his first-career five-point game. The senior factored into the opening two strikes by the Johnnies as the home side never trailed.
After posting a six-point outing in Tuesday's matinee at Saint Joseph's, Jason DeBenedictis followed his performance with another dazzling afternoon. The senior tallied a hat trick and added an assist for a four-point game.
Joe Madsen also collected four points on Saturday with a trio of goals and a helper himself. The sophomore remained in the team lead with 16 tallies, and sits just four off his freshman total.
Just four days after posting a four-assist game against Saint Joseph's, Matt Oehl was spectacular again in the helping department with another tetrad of assists in the victory. The sophomore's eight helpers over a two-game stretch are the most since Eric DeJohn in 2015.
Declan Swartwood and Mike Madsen each posted a pair of goals, while Colin Duffy and Ryan Schaeffer both added a score in the triumph.
St. John's dominated at the X, posting a 17-of-23 advantage on the afternoon. The Red Storm was led by Justin Corpolongo who finished 16-of-22, just a win off his career high. Paul Tornatore posted a single victory on his lone attempt.
The Johnnies also collected 29 groundballs, led by five from TJ Marron and Luke Roediger, as well as a trio from Duffy, Joe Madsen, and Haynes.
Taking advantage of opportunities was also a key for the Red Storm, striking for five goals while on the man-up opportunity on eight chances. The five tallies were the most in a single game for the Johnnies since Mar. 23, 2013 at Robert Morris when St. John's when five-for-10 on the man advantage against the Colonials.
Matt Hanley was effective in his fourth win as a Johnnie, stopping seven shots and collecting a pair of groundballs.
It took next-to-no time for St. John's to get the offense started, striking for back-to-back goals in the opening two minutes.
Mike Madsen got the Johnnies on the board just 53 seconds into the contest before Haynes fired a shot from distance that deflected off the goalkeeper and trickled over the line to quickly put the home side up 2-0.
Despite playing in its own end for much of the quarter, Siena (2-2) was able to answer the opening goals by the Red Storm and tie the game at two, but St. John's blew the game open over the final seven minutes of the first frame.
Swartwood scored his fourth goal over his last two games with a laser shot from just inside the attacking zone to restore the lead, 3-2, with 6:56 to play in the quarter.
Just 55 ticks later, the Madsen twins connected on a great give-and-go play to double the advantage. Joe, stationed behind the net, found Mike cutting through the slot with a pass that was one-timed into the cage by Mike for a beautiful tally to quickly build a 4-2 lead.
The Red Storm was not finished in the opening quarter as Swartwood pierced the corner with a shot for his second goal of the game before Joe Madsen added the sixth goal of the stanza with a great showing of individual effort.
Following a shot off the side of the net, Madsen collected the rebound, sprinted to the other side of the cage, and beat goalkeeper Anthony Tebbano with a diving shot to cap off an offensive 15 minutes.
St. John's finished with a 16-3 shot advantage through one quarter of play, and the six goals scored marked the second time the Johnnies have scored six-or-more goals through the opening 15 minutes of action this season.
Starting the second on a man-up opportunity, Joe Madsen deposited the second-of-five goals on the man advantage when the sophomore capped off a great passing play by the Johnnies for a 7-2 lead.
With the foot on the pedal, the Red Storm built its largest lead of the season, at the time, with Haynes' second goal of the contest. The senior wired a shot into the top corner for an 8-2 advantage less than five minutes into the second quarter.
The Saints snapped the 6-0 run by the Johnnies with a man-up goal of their own, but DeBenedictis answered nearly a minute later with a goal from his favorite spot on the field with 6:49 remaining in the half.
Siena looked to build some momentum in the following minutes after the DeBenedictis goal, tallying the game's next five shots. The visitors broke through again with 5:22 to play to bring the lead down to 9-4.
St. John's seized back the flow of the game over the final five minutes of the half, scoring another pair of goals to head into the locker room with an 11-4 halftime cushion.
Michael Hatzopoulos collected his first point of the season on the final goal of the opening 30 minutes, dishing a sweet, cross-crease pass to Duffy to place an exclamation point on the half.
Scoring slowed down as the game moved into the third quarter, with only three shots finding the back of the net.
The Saints tallied a pair of goals, but DeBenedictis capped off the penultimate frame with his first man-up tally of the afternoon on the only shot-on-goal for the Johnnies during the third.
Leading 12-6 heading into the final stanza, Oehl stole the show with a pair of highlight assists to cap off the tilt.
First, the sophomore faked a shot and found Joe Madsen alone at the top of the crease for the team's 13th strike of the contest before placing the ball on a tee for DeBenedictis' third goal of the game.
Siena added its seventh goal late, but the Johnnies closed out its fourth win of the season with a wire-to-wire victory.
St. John's returns to action next Saturday as the Red Storm hosts Dartmouth for a St. Patrick's Day showdown at 1 p.m.
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
