BUFFALO – A pair of first half goals lifted the St. Bonaventure University men's soccer team to a 2-1 victory at Little Three rival Canisius.

The Bonnies struck first in the seventh minute of Thursday's contest and never trailed.

Graduate student Mo Tall sent a corner kick far post where fellow graduate Bo Drath headed the ball to senior Andres Javitt who headed home his first goal of the season, giving the Bonnies a 1-0 lead. 

The Bonnies (1-2) doubled their advantage in the 26th minute when Keegan Dawson found Javitt in the box. Javitt created enough space to find Luc Finelli at the top of the box who rocketed a shot past the Canisius goalkeeper. 

Canisius (0-3) looked to have cut the deficit in half in the 41st minute, but junior goalie Nicolas Pucci slid across his line to make an acrobatic kick save to keep the hosts off the board.

The Golden Griffins cut into the Bonnies' lead late in the second half when Edison Flores landed a shot into the back of the net, making it a 2-1 game with 15 minutes to play. 

The hosts attempted to tie the game in the 79th minute off a corner kick, but redshirt junior Mattia Ferretti was there to block the shot and end the scoring threat.

Bona's defense held its line the rest of the way, outlasting the Golden Griffins for the win.

Pucci finished the night with a season-high six saves while Javitt and Rashid Aroza paced the offense with three shots each.

Tall and Daniel Helle each registered two shots for the Bonnies. Umechi Akuazaoku, Keegan Dawson and Neshawn Sutherland also tallied a shot for the Brown and White.

The Bonnies captured their second straight win over Canisius after also defeating the Golden Griffins 4-0 last season.

Bona's returns to action Monday, Sept. 2 when they travel to take on Penn State. Kickoff is slated for 5:00 p.m.

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