LOUDONVILLE, NY – As one of the top face off specialists in the country, Siena freshman Logan Banek was not used to having a half where his counterpart had won just as many at the face off "X" as he had.  

But then there was a second half to be played.

That's where Banek, the seven-time MAAC weekly award winner, took it up a level as the New Hartford, NY native would not lose another for the remainder of the game as he won all 15 face offs he took in the second half as Siena Men's Lacrosse propelled their way to a 12-8 home victory against Mount St. Mary's on a drizzly Saturday afternoon.

The win upped Siena's overall record over the .500 mark at 5-4 and improved its conference record to 3-1, winning its third consecutive conference game. 

The Mountaineers (2-8, 0-4 MAAC) had a rather effective first half game plan, slowing the game down, holding the ball with a patient offense and working the clock.

It resulted in a 3-3 tie after Mount St. Mary's received goals from Jack Smith on a man-up opportunity and a goal by Connor Barrett off a feed from Carter Quested at the 2:36 mark of the second quarter.

Pratt Reynolds came up firing with 1:24 left to give the Saints the lead it would not relinquish and a 4-3 half time lead heading into the locker room. 

Reynolds currently leads the conference in goals with 33. 

The third quarter shifted heavily in favor of the Saints, who dominated possession behind Banek, and got a pair of goals from Caden Olmstead, and one each from Will Edell, Conor Hufnagel, Brandon Blenk and Jack Cavaioli to push the lead to 10-4 with 1:27 left in the quarter. 

Banek, who finished winning 19 of 23 face offs including all 15 in the second half, added a game-high 15 ground balls as he frequently ran with purpose toward the ball. He just sits a tick below .700 with a .697 winning percentage on the season (145 of 208). 

Six different Saints accrued at least two points with Patrick Radomski (two goals, two assists) and Caden Olmstead (two goals, one assist) leading the way. 

Defensively, Siena was picked up by Andrew Arcuri, who had eight saves including a couple of difficult snags in the first half and he also lowered his goals-against average to 9.99 for the season.

Siena held a 27-16 advantage for shots including 43-30 for shots on goal. 

Siena improved to 8-12 in the all-time series against Mount St. Mary's and now have won three straight and eight of the previous nine meetings with the Mountaineers. 

Siena returns to action Saturday, April 5 when it travels to take on Manhattan (5-4 overall, 3-1 MAAC) at 3 p.m. from Gaelic Park in Riverdale. 

The game can be viewed on ESPN+.