Box Score STEUBENVILLE – The Franciscan men's lacrosse team gave head coach Pete Rosaschi one of the best birthday presents a head coach could ask for – a 17-16 double overtime win over visiting Hiram College, Wednesday afternoon. Not only did the head coach get a win, but he got to watch one of his seniors, Paul Modzelewski, score his 100th point as a Baron.
In a game that appeared to be put away in the fourth quarter, the Barons needed some exciting heroics for the win. Trailing 16-15 with less than a minute left, a Terrier shot went wide and Franciscan was awarded the ball. The Barons hustled down the field for a good clear and the Barons were able to set up their offense. Sophomore Dan McCartney popped the ball to classmate Joe Lomady who buried the ball below the stick of the goalie to tie the game at 16-16 with 20 seconds left in regulation. Hiram won the ensuing faceoff but the Terriers only shot went wide of the net as time expired and the game went into overtime.
Franciscan won the opening faceoff of the first overtime but quickly turned the ball over. The turnover turned out to not be of any concern as the Terriers turned it over in front of the net as well on their next possession. Franciscan cleared the ball and was awarded an extra man opportunity but could not capitalize. The Barons' first shot of the possession went wide and Lomady's point-blank shot was saved by the Hiram keeper. The Terriers only shot of the overtime period was saved by freshman goalie Matt Marrenna with 37 seconds left in the period. Neither team could score in the last 30 seconds and so the game went into a second overtime.
Lomady once again won the opening faceoff and gave Franciscan the first shot on offense. That shot turned out to be all the Barons needed as Franciscan ran its offense and set up a play. Junior Jonas McCaig took the ball from behind the cage and shot it from about 10 yards out into the top corner of the net to win the game for FUS, 17-16.
The Barons and Terriers engaged in a back and forth battle for most of the first quarter before the Barons pulled away for a 6-4 lead with 11 seconds to play in the quarter with a three-goal run. Lomady kicked off the run that took just 51 seconds of game time. Hiram won the faceoff after Lomday's goal but junior CJ Moore quickly caused a turnover and got the possession back to Franciscan. McCaig gave the Barons a 5-4 lead with his unassisted goal with 24 seconds showing on the clock. Franciscan won the next face off and McCartney picked up the ground ball and raced to the cage and shot right away to give FUS its 6-4 lead at the end of the first.
Franciscan began the second quarter a man-down after a one-minute penalty carried over from the previous quarter but the Barons were able to kill off the EMO. After a successful Baron clear, Lomady picked up a ground ball and took it to the net himself to give Franciscan a 7-4 lead with 13:10 to play.
Hiram kept the Barons close with a pair of goals to pull within one, 7-6, but Lomady pushed the lead back to two goals with a goal off an assist from Rosaschi. Hiram tied the game at 8-8 with 2:04 to play but once again the Barons used a quick three-goal run to take a healthy lead. McCaig kicked off the run with a goal with 39 seconds left before Rosaschi scored with 13 seconds left. Lomady finished the run with a goal with just eight seconds to play after winning the final faceoff of the half.
The Barons led 11-8 at halftime.
Franciscan broke open the game with a goal from Modzelewski and McCaig to open the third quarter. After the Terriers cut the lead down to 13-9, Modzelewski took an assist from McCaig for his second goal of the game and pushed the Baron lead to 14-9. Modzelewski's goal at 5:27 was his 66th of his career and his 100th point as a Baron. The senior is already the career leader in points and is the first player in program history to hit the century mark.
Hiram got one back but McCartney closed out the quarter with a goal with just six seconds left to give Franciscan a 15-10 lead going into the final quarter.
The Terriers outscored the Barons 6-1 in the final quarter, which set up the late-game heroics for Franciscan.
Lomady led the Barons with six goals and 19 ground balls, the second-most single-game ground ball total in Baron history. McCaig added five goals and two assists while McCartney chipped in three and Modzelewski two. Freshman Matt Marrenna needed just seven saves in net for the win.
Franciscan heads to Buffalo, NY on Saturday to take on Hilbert in a 5pm contest.
