Box Score

CANTON, NY April 11, 2009) -- The No. 20 St. Lawrence University men's lacrosse team got two goals each from junior CP Rahe and first-year student Caldwell Rohrbach on Saturday as the Saints downed Liberty League foe Vassar, 9-3 on a windy afternoon at North Country Field. 

Vassar, which saw its goaltenders combine for 20 saves in the game, fall to 4-7 (0-4). Vassar returns home next Saturday, April 18 to face Skidmore in a Liberty League game. The victory was the 27th straight Liberty League win for St. Lawrence and moved the Scarlet and Brown to 7-2 (3-0) on the year and next have a showdown with Clarkson on Wednesday, April 14. 

“I thought the wind played a role in both team's clearing games today, but we built a nice lead in the third quarter to come away with a win,” said St. Lawrence head coach Mike Mahoney. “Vassar's goalies kept them in the game throughout as they battled for a full 60 minutes.” 

St. Lawrence wasted little time in building a 2-0 lead, as junior Scott Smith and Rahe scored only 25 seconds apart less the two minutes into the game. Smith's goal was an unassisted tally while Rahe took a feed from senior Collin Moon to beat Vassar's starting goalie Alex Tice. 

Rahe would then cap the scoring midway through the first quarter with an unassisted goal at 9:44. The goal made it 3-0 in favor of the home team, which outshot their opponents 14-4 in the opening stanza. 

Vassar would cut their deficit to two 57 seconds into the second quarter at 3-1. Despite being a man-down, Sam Thypin-Bermeo used a slick move to avoid a defender and beat St. Lawrence senior goal Thomas Hollingsworth to open the Brewers' scoring. 

The Saints would re-establish their momentum only 37 seconds later when senior Kyle Benton scored a man-up tally for a 4-1 lead. Benton's goal would kick-off a six-goal run for St. Lawrence that put the game out of reach after the third quarter. Junior Drew Osinski and senior John Allen made it 6-1 at the end of the first half, though Tice played well between the pipes for Vassar as he made 13 saves in 30 minutes of action. 

The Saints continued to roll both offensively and defensively in the third quarter, as they outscored Vassar 3-0 while allowing the Brewers only five shots towards Hollingsworth. Rohrbach scored consecutive goals at 2:38 and 8:12 to put St. Lawrence on top 8-1, while senior Peter Carroll capped the home team's scoring with 2:00 to play in the third with a man-up goal to make it 9-1. 

Despite trailing by eight goals, Vassar continued to work hard and managed to out-score St. Lawrence 2-0 in the fourth quarter. After Hollingsworth was replaced by junior Andrew Cochran in net to start the frame, Vassar's Nick Cardillo scored an unassisted goal at 8:48. Thypin-Bermeo then beat rookie Alex Junda, who relieved Cochran, to cap the game's scoring at 9-3 with 1:11 left on the clock. 

Vassar's Ed Pappo was solid in net throughout the second half, making seven saves while allowing three goals. 

St. Lawrence finished with a 45-27 advantage in shots, while the two teams combined for 40 turnovers on the afternoon. The Saints won the face-off game behind the play of senior P.J. Santora, who won 9-of-13 draws while scooping up a game-high seven ground balls. The Scarlet and Brown also received solid outings from their corps of defenseman, including junior Trevor Scoon and senior captain Carl Festa. 

Hollingsworth finished with five saves in 45 minutes to earn the win, while Cochran made three saves and Ruscio made one in the fourth quarter. Tice suffered the loss, finishing with 13 saves in 30 minutes.