March 14, 2009
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LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. - Freshman Bryan Neufeld scored six goals to lead Siena past Saint Joseph's 13-4 in its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener Saturday afternoon in Loudonville. Siena outshot Saint Joseph's 38-17 and outscored them 7-1 in the second half. Neufeld's six goals were the most by a Siena player since April 14, 2007 when Matt Girsh scored six against Wagner.
Siena (2-4, 1-0) jumped on Saint Joseph's (2-5, 0-1) from the start, taking a 3-0 lead courtesy of three Neufeld goals just six minutes in. Scott Cullinan put the Hawks on the scoreboard with 4:33 left in the first quarter to cut the deficit to 3-1. But Neufeld struck again before the end of the period with his fourth goal of the game off a feed from Ryan Duggan with just 38 seconds left.
Sean Evans scored two goals in the first 11 minutes of the second quarter to draw his team within one. But Matt Leithead and Duggan tallied goals in the last 4:12 of the half to extend Siena's lead to 6-3.
The Saints dominated the second half as they outscored the Hawks 7-1 and cruised to a MAAC opener win. Siena converted 1-of-2 man-up situations and held Saint Joseph's 0-for-4.
Scott Montgomery won 13-of-19 face-offs including 7-of-8 in the second half. The Saints were a solid 19-for-21 on clear attempts.
Brent Herbst made seven saves in the win while Erik Hotaling made 14 saves in defeat.
Siena returns to action Tuesday when they host St. John's at 3 p.m.