Quinnipiac men’s lacrosse has done it again. The undefeated Bobcats continued their streak of dominance with a 14-7 win over Canisius Saturday to maintain first place in the MAAC.
The visitors started the game off on the right foot. Within minutes of the first quarter starting, graduate attackman John DeLucia connected on a wrap-around shot that put Quinnipiac on the board.
The Bobcats have found scoring options all across their roster, which has been one of the keys to success so far. This time, the majority of the shots were taken by senior midfielder Evan Perry, who had a hat trick before halftime and finished the game with three goals and one assist.
Including Perry, three players scored hat tricks that helped the Bobcats run up the scoreboard. Senior attackman Dylan Donnery finished the game with four goals, while graduate attackman Jake Tellers had three.
While the offense was expected to be explosive, it was the defense that dominated, allowing only seven goals all game and just two in the first half. Quinnipiac kept the Golden Griffins’ top offensive player — senior midfielder Jackson Webster — to a goose egg on the scoreboard. Coming into the game, Webster led Canisius in scoring with 10 goals and three assists.
Per usual, junior goalie Mason Oak continued to deny any shots that came his way. Oak, who was recently named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, had 16 saves on the day and a save percentage of .696%. Oak’s spectacular defense week in and week out is a large factor in the success the Bobcats have found this season.
While cruising through the first two quarters of the game, the Bobcats dug themselves into a bit of a hole during the third. Quinnipiac suffered from multiple penalties that allowed Canisius to go on a three-goal run. The Bobcats scoring was fairly even all game long, scoring three or more goals in each quarter.
Despite a messy start to the second half, Quinnipiac was able to go into cruise control during the fourth and put the game away for good, scoring three goals in the fourth quarter.
Quinnipiac travels back to Hamden to face Wagner on Mar. 16. The opening faceoff is set for noon.
