Published: March 21, 2007
ALBANY, N.Y.
With a career-high of five goals, junior Justin O’Donnell led the Red Storm men’s
lacrosse team to their third win of the season and their first road
victory, 10-7 against the Siena Saints, Wednesday afternoon at
University of Albany.
With the win, the Red Storm advances to 3-5 overall as Siena
falls to 2-3.
Adding to O’Donnell’s five was junior Tom Michaelsen,
who tallied five points of his own with four goals and one assist.
Michaelsen’s five point performance matched his career-best scoring
effort of three goals and two assists against Quinnipiac on March
13.
The hat trick was O’Donnell’s first of the season and the sixth
of his career, while Michaelsen’s was his third three-goal effort
this season and also the sixth of his career.
The win marks the Red Storm’s 13th straight over the Saints, and
the first since the program’s reinstatement in 2005. With the
victory, St. John’s snapped the Saints’ two-game win streak.
“We are pleased to get a hard fought win against a very good
Siena team,” remarked Head Coach Jason
Miller. “It is nice have some momentum going into the main
ECAC part of the schedule.”
The Saints scored first in the road contest, as Siena’s Matt
Donovan scored four minutes into the first period. Donovan leads
the NCAA in points per game (6.0) and assists per game (4.33).
Donovan’s goal was followed by one from Siena’s Ryan Duggan to put
the Saints ahead, 2-0.
O’Donnell scored his first of five halfway through the first
period to put the Red Storm on the board. O’Donnell and Michaelsen
scored twice more to even out the score at 3-3 going into the
second half.
Siena tied the game three times going into the halftime break
before Tom Manes gave the Red Storm
the go ahead goal, opening the third period with an unassisted shot
past Siena goaltender Brent Herbst.
The Red Storm pulled away in the fourth with back-to-back goals
from Michaelsen securing the 10-7 St. John’s victory.
Facing off against Siena’s Scott Montgomery, Jack Rosson excelled at the face-off X
winning 12 of 19. After starting out 2-7, the Red Storm went 4-5,
4-5 and 2-3 in the next three periods.
The Red Storm was 90.4 percent on their clearing game, going 19
for 21 on clears.
St. John’s man-down defense continued to thrive as it held Siena
to 0-7 on man-up opportunities. The Red Storm is currently ranked
14th in the nation in man-down defense, with an average of .795
prior to Wednesday’s contest.
With five points today, Michaelsen advances his season total to
23 points (13G, 10A), a team high. O’Donnell’s five gives him 11
goals on the season and 13 points.
Up next, the Red Storm will enter the main part of their
conference play as they close out March at home against Rutgers.
Face-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. on March 31 for the ECAC contest,
the Red Storm’s third of the season.
The win over Siena marks Miller’s first away victory as a head
coach.
For the most up-to-date information and statistics on St. John’s
athletics please visit www.RedStormSports.com or
call our hotline at 1-888-GO-STORM.
-- Red Storm --