Oct. 6, 2001

Box Score

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - Senior wideout Ryan Hungershafer (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) reeled in two fourth quarter touchdown passes and Julian Brown (Carmel, N.Y./Carmel) scampered for 144 yards to seal Siena's (1-3/1-1 MAAC) upset victory over LaSalle (3-1/1-1 MAAC) Saturday afternoon.

The Saints controlled the tempo of the game and held the ball for nearly twice as long as the Explorers in a breakout victory at Heritage Park. Brown's 144 yards came on 38 carries and included an ice-breaking touchdown with just under four minutes remaining in the first half.

The Siena defense played its best football of the season behind sophomore standout Dan Smacchia (Thornwood, N.Y./Westlake) who registered 11 tackles, one forced fumble, one interception and a quarterback sack. Senior Cliff Serie (Merrick, N.Y./Chaminade) added three key sacks and Derek Freitag (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick) had three pass defenses and an interception for a unit that held LaSalle to a season-low 136 total yards.

The Explorers answered Brown's initial score with a touchdown on their first drive of the second half. Jeremy Crimmel, who finished the game with 47 yards rushing, scored from one yard out following a Siena turnover. Smacchia got a hand up on the point after attempt to keep the Saints in front.

On a blustery day, with gusts upwards of 25 mph, the Saints took advantage of a steady fourth quarter wind to put the game away. Sophomore signal caller Christian Karolus (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) through a perfectly timed fade pass to Hungershafer on a fourth and goal from the five yard line early in the quarter to push the lead to 14-6. Six minutes later, the 6-2 sophomore retrieved an errant snap well behind the line of scrimmage and found Hungershafer breaking free for the 30-yard back-breaking score.

Karolus completed nine of 16 passes and rushed for 67 of Siena's season-best 217 yards on the ground.

The Saints evened their conference record at 1-1 and will take on Canisius at Heritage Park next Saturday at 1 p.m.