Despite an early deficit, the Siena Men's Lacrosse team battled late but fell just short in a 9-8 loss at Canisius on Sunday afternoon.
 
Canisius was led by a four-point effort from Keegan Kozack, who scored three goals with an assist. Nathan Conry and Jackson Naylor each ad two points apiece with one goal and one assist. Matt Vavonese stopped 10 shots on the afternoon in the win.
 
Senior Christian Watts led the way for the Saints with a four-goal afternoon, while freshman Pratt Reynolds was the other multi-goal scorer with two on the game. Jack Kiernan and Luke Julien each collected a goal and assist. Goaltender Christopher Yanchoris made 12 saves on the afternoon in cage for Siena.
 
Siena struggled in the faceoff X, going just 3-for-20 on the afternoon. That hampered the Saints early on, as the Golden Griffins jumped out to a 4-1 lead early into the second quarter. However, the Saints scored back-to-back goals to close out the second as they cut the Canisius lead to 4-3 into the half.
 
Both sides combined for 10 goals in the second half. Despite Canisius opening the second half with a score, Siena ran off three unanswered goals capped by a strike from Kiernan to go up 6-5 for their first lead of the game with 6:58 remaining in the third. From that point, the Golden Griffins scored four of the next five goals to reclaim a 9-7 lead with two minutes remaining.
 
Watts took advantage of a loose ball in front of the net with 31 seconds to play, bringing the Saints back within one. However, Siena lost the ensuing faceoff which ran time off the clock for the Canisius win.
 
The Saints return to action next Saturday, Mar. 26 at 7 p.m. when they square off with the Marist Red Foxes in Poughkeepsie.