Box Score Box Score

ONEONTA, N.Y.—For the first 30 minutes of today's men's lacrosse game, SUNY Oneonta found themselves in control of #17 St. John Fisher leading 5-3 at halftime. Unfortunately, the second 30 minutes did not go Oneonta's way en route to an 11-6 loss in its 2011 home opener.

Six different players registered goals for the Red Dragons, who fell to 1-4 on the season and junior Chris Miles (Manlius, Fayetteville Manlius) made 17 saves in goal.

Oneonta controlled the first period of play with its tight defense while capitalizing on its opportunities on offense, leading 3-1 at the end. Three unanswered, unassisted goals by sophomores Tyler Jennings (Brewerton, Central Square), John DeOrdio (Chenango Forks, Chenango Forks), and freshman Daniel Stern (Shoreham, Shoreham-Wading River).

After goals by Jimmy van de Veerdonk (Putnam Valley, Putnam Valley) and Brian Kollar (East Islip, East Islip) gave Oneonta a 5-1 lead in the second period, St. John Fisher answered with a pair of its own to cut the lead back to 5-3. A man up goal by junior Mike Byrnes followed by an unassisted goal by senior Ryan Schmidt accounted for the two scores for the visitors.

St. John Fisher scored four straight goals in the third period to take the lead at 7-5. Schmidt opened the scoring just 41 seconds into the period and junior Connor Henderson capped the run at the 7:57 mark. Henderson also assisted on the third goal by freshman Mike Utz.

Oneonta cut the lead back to one goal at 7-6 when freshman Joey Finnegan (West Islip, West Islip) scored with an assist from sophomore Mike Salerno (West Babylon/West Babylon), but that would be it for the Red Dragons as the Cardinals closed with the game's final four goals.

Junior Mitch Ritchie led St. John Fisher with three goals and one assist today. Goalie, Matt McShea, made 10 stops in goal to pick up his sixth win of the season.

Oneonta will travel to Ithaca this Wednesday to play the Bombers at 4:00 p.m.

St. John Fisher SCORING: GOALS: Mitch Ritchie 3; Connor Henderson 2; Kyle Denhoff 2; Ryan Schmidt 2; Michael Utz 1; Mike Byrnes 1.

ASSISTS: Michael Utz 2; Mike Byrnes 1; Mike Cummins 1; Connor Henderson 1; Mitch Ritchie 1; Jeff Wester 1.

Oneonta State SCORING: GOALS: Brian Kollar (East Islip/East Islip) 1; John DeOrdio (Chenango Forks/Chenango Forks) 1; Jim van de Veerdonk (Putnam Valley/Putnam Valley) 1; Danny Stern 1; Tyler Jennings (Brewerton/Central Square) 1; Joey Finnegan (West Islip/West Islip) 1.

ASSISTS: Mike Salerno (West Babylon/West Babylon) 1; Joe Stroessenreuther 1.

SHOTS - St. John Fisher 43; Oneonta State 25.
Penalties - St. John Fisher 2/3:00; Oneonta State 7/5:00.
MAN-UP OPPORTUNITIES - St. John Fisher 3-7; Oneonta State 0-2.

FACEOFFS - St. John Fisher 19-20; Oneonta State 1-20.

GOALIES - FISHER: Matt McShea (60:00 MP, 10 saves, 6 GA);
Oneonta: Chris Miles (Manlius/Fayetteville Manlius) (60:00 MP, 17 saves, 11 GA).