No. 16/17 Terriers Roll Past Siena in Home Opener, 23-7

Friday, February 6

Boston, MA

4 PM

Boston University

1-1

Siena

0-1

Siena

Boston U.

Photo by: Eliza Nuestro

No. 16/17 Terriers Roll Past Siena in Home Opener, 23-7

February 6, 2026 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Highlights Polley Postgame

BOSTON - Sophomore Timothy Shannehan became just the second player in program history to record more than 10 points in a game, tallying five goals and six assists to lead the No. 16/17 Boston University men's lacrosse team to a dominant 23-7 victory over Siena in its home opener on Friday at Nickerson Field.

The Terriers led 8-0 after the first quarter and went on to score the first 11 goals of the contest to take a commanding lead and cruise to the win, improving to 1-1 on the year in the process. The 23 goals matches a program record and the 16-goal triumph is the largest margin of victory in program history.

Shannehan set career highs in points (11) and assists (6) while matching his best in goals with five. Senior Sam Burns had a career day with two goals and two assists while freshman Peyton Forte also turned in a four-point day with a hat trick and an assist.

Senior Jimmy Kohr posted two goals and an assist while classmate Tommy Garofalo and sophomore Andrew Pape each recorded a pair of goals.

In all, 13 Terriers found the back of the net, as sophomore Mike Rooney, senior Ethan Hart, junior Donald Varnerin, junior Murphy McLaughlin, sophomore Finn Lawrence, junior Tyler Fox and senior Charlie Howard all potted a goal. It marked the first collegiate goals for McLaughlin and Howard.

BU outshot Siena 56-22 and got a combined nine saves from sophomore Connor Phillips (4), graduate student Michael Allieri (3), senior Kevin Barrett (1) and freshman Zach Webb (1), with Webb making his collegiate debut.

The Terriers had a 55-36 advantage in ground balls and recorded 18 caused turnovers. Senior Connor Kehm had a game-best six ground balls while Forte added five. McLaughlin and junior Logan Styles led all players with three caused turnovers apiece. Kehm also recorded an assist.

The faceoff battle was won by the Terriers, 24-11, with sophomore Madden Murphy winning 13 of 20 against the reigning MAAC Rookie of the Year. In clears, BU was 20-for-21 while forcing 11 failed clears for Siena (17-for-28).

HOW IT HAPPENED

It took the Terriers just 1:55 to get on the board when Fox found Rooney for his first goal of the season.
Varnerin then made it 2-0 off the ensuing faceoff. He grabbed the loose ball at midfield, ran through three defenders to get into the box and then kept running towards the cage before firing a shot past Vito DeBellis.
Shannehan factored on the next three goals, scoring twice and assisting on a Kohr strike to help make it 5-0.
Pape scored at 8:01 to push the lead to 6-0 before Fox found the back of the net at 6:51 for a 7-0 lead.
McLaughlin scored his first collegiate goal at 5:28 off some nice transition. Varnerin caused a turnover and got the ball moving up field. McLaughlin trailed the play and Shannehan found him for the second pole goal of the quarter.
Siena kept BU at bay for the rest of the frame, but Forte scored twice in a span of 21 seconds to make it a 10-0 Terrier lead just 1:16 into the quarter.
Burns made it 11-0 at 11:22 before Conor Hufnagel finally got the Saints on the board at 10:17.
Forte, Shannehan and Hart rounded out the scoring for the Terriers in the first half as BU held a 14-2 lead after 30 minutes.
Kohr and Pape scored back-to-back man-up markers to begin the second half and Shannehan quickly followed with a goal of his own to push the lead to 17-2 just 1:31 into the third quarter.
Lawrence notched the Terriers' third man-up goal of the quarter with 1:38 on the clock to make it a 19-3 BU lead heading to the final 15 minutes.
The teams played even over the fourth quarter, with each team finding the back of the net four times.
Garofalo scored twice in the final frame while Shannehan and Howard also scored for BU.

GAME NOTES

Shannehan was three points shy of matching Vince D'Alto's program record (and Patriot League record) for points in a game; he notched 14 (7g, 7a) against Lafayette on March 16, 2022.
BU last scored 23 goals on March 18, 2023, at Nickerson Field in a 23-9 triumph over Holy Cross.
The Terriers are now 43-of-45 in the clearing game over their first two outings.
BU has also been excellent on the ride through two contests this year, holding opponents to a .755 clearing percentage.
The Terriers scored three man-up goals on Friday.
Freshman Samuel Whitehurst earned his first collegiate point with the assist on Howard's goal.

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