Feb. 28, 2009
Box Score
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Vermont's Andrew Kelleher found the back of the net as time expired to defeat the Marist men's lacrosse team 8-7 at Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field on Saturday afternoon. Marist had tied the game with 48 seconds remaining on a Ryan Sharkey (Westfield, N.J.) man-up goal. Sharkey ended the day with a hat trick as sophomore attack Corey Zindel (Randolph, N.J.) had a goal and four assists in Marist's season opener.
The Catamounts got on the board early as Derek Lichtfuss setup Geoff Worley for a goal 1:13 into the game. Marist (0-1) responded with its first goal 1:22 later as Zindel fed Sharkey from behind the cage to tie the game at 1-1. Vermont (1-0) took the lead back at the 10:37 mark of the first quarter as Kelleher found the back of the net for the first time, giving the Catamounts a 2-1 lead. The Red Foxes then took advantage of a Vermont penalty to score man-up, as Matt Francis (Lansdale, Pa.) beat Vermont goalie Justin Lubas to tie the game at 2-2 with 9:55 remaining in the first quarter.
The game remained tied until the 12:02 mark of the second quarter when Marist took its first lead of the game. Zindel would assist on senior Paul Santavicca's (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) first goal of the season to put the Red Foxes ahead 3-2. Vermont would not be down for long as Thomas Galvin scored on a dodge to the net to tie the game at 3-3 with 10:38 to go in the half. Marist took the lead back at the 4:51 mark as Zindel scored his lone tally of the game man-up, getting an assist from Zachary Walsh (Mountain Lakes, N.J.). The Red Foxes looked poised to take a lead into the locker room at halftime after killing off a Matt Teichmann (Huntington, N.Y.) slashing penalty but Worley tied the game for Vermont with six seconds remaining in the half, making the score 4-4.
After a strong defensive start to the third quarter, Vermont took the lead back at the 5:48 mark of the period on a Liam Thomas goal. Marist tied the game at 5-5 with 3:08 to go in the quarter on a man-up goal by Sharkey. The Red Foxes then took a 6-5 lead 1:06 later on a Walsh goal. The Catamounts then tied the game at 6-6 with 34 seconds left in the third on Kelleher's second goal of the game.
Kelleher scored 44 seconds into the fourth quarter to put Vermont ahead 7-6. Marist struggled in the fourth quarter, committing eight turnovers. The Red Foxes, however, were dynamite in man-up situations. Marist scored its fourth man-up goal of the game with 48 seconds remaining as Sharkey completed his hat trick. Vermont won the ensuing face-off and called timeout to keep possession. With a loose-ball situation around the net, Kelleher found the ball near the crease and put it in the net as the final horn sounded to give Vermont the 8-7 win.
Vermont outshot Marist 36-25 and only committed 16 turnovers. Marist had 25 shots and 23 turnovers, 13 coming in the second half. Francis won 12 of the 18 face-offs for Marist and had 12 of the Red Foxes' 35 ground balls. Senior goalie Ryan Penner (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) made 17 saves. Marist was 4-for-10 on extra-man opportunities and successfully killed all five of its penalties.
The Red Foxes return to action on Saturday, March 7 with a 1 p.m. game at Binghamton.
