MERCY MEN'S LACROSSE MAKES MAGIC IN BEATING AIC 6-5
MERCY MAKES MAGIC IN BEATING AIC 6-5
BOXSCORE
In the scope of just a few years, the Mercy College men's
lacrosse team went from being a figment of the imagination to a
living, breathing entity. Today, February 28, 2010, the Mavericks
played the first game of their inaugural season, beating the
Yellowjackets of American International College 6-5 in Springfield,
Mass.
Any pre-game jitters were quickly dispelled for Mercy, as
freshman Joe Pulido
(Copaigue, N.Y./Copaigue) won the opening faceoff.
Minutes later, AIC was flagged for offsides, giving Mercy its
first man-up situation. Just 13 seconds in, at 11:42 of the first
quarter, freshman Frank
Henenlotter (Lynbrook, N.Y./Lynbrook) fed classmate Mike
Marzocca (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) for the
extra-man goal, the first goal in the history of the program. But
there was little time to celebrate that magical moment, as the game
quickly continued.
Play was tight, with AIC knotting the game with 4:37 to play in
the first, as Travis Ortensi was able to beat Mercy's
freshman goalie T.J.
DiCarlo (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale).
Freshman John
Fitzpatrick (Yorktown, N.Y./Lakeland) would put the
Mavs up 2-1 with just 31 seconds to play in the first, when he took
an Alex
Martello (Montville, N.J./Montville) pass and found
the back of the net. Ortensi would score his second goal of the
period when he played Beat the Clock and tied the score at 2-2 with
just four seconds remaining in the quarter.
Only one goal was scored in the second quarter, and it was Mercy
sophomore Sean Wallin
(Mountain Lakes, N.J./Mountain Lakes) who lit the lamp
with 1:20 to go before the intermission.
In the third, Henenlotter got his first goal of the season to
give Mercy a two-goal, 4-2, lead with 9:59 to play. AIC would score
back-to-back goals to tie the game, only to have Henenlotter take a
pass from Martello and pump in a man-up goal late in the third to
give Mercy a 5-4 lead at the end of the third. It was
Martello's fourth assist of the game.
With just fifteen minutes to go, Mercy was on the verge of
making history.
As the fourth quarter opened, AIC began in a man-up situation,
when Mercy's Nick
Rizzuto (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) took a 60-second
penalty for an illegal body check in the waning moments of the
third period. Mercy killed that penalty, only to go offsides at the
13:51 mark, giving AIC another EMO. T.J. DiCarlo made a good save,
keeping Mercy in the lead.
Wallin quickly gave Mercy a two-goal cushion with the eventual
game-winner, when he took a Mike Marzocca pass and scored at the
11:30 mark.
Down two, AIC responded with desperation. In the fourth quarter,
AIC managed 12 shots, with DiCarlo making five of his 11 saves in
the period, as the Yellowjackets swarmed the goal.
“The team has a great confidence in T.J.,” said head
coach Steve
Manitta, who wins his first game as a college head
coach. “They trust him to make the big save.”
AIC would score with just 5:37 to play to bring the score to
6-5. With 1:19 to go, AIC called for a timeout to setup their
offense. DiCarlo came up brilliantly with the save, and all Mercy
had to do was clear the ball.
The clear was good, but Mercy turned the ball over, giving AIC
one last chance. With 15 seconds to play, AIC now needed to go the
length of the field for one last chance. That last chance would not
happen, and Mercy would claim the 6-5 win.
“We had three areas we wanted to concentrate on,”
said Manitta. “We wanted to clear the ball well, win the
battle for ground balls, and we wanted to stay out of the
box.”
For the game, Mercy led in ground balls 33-21, successfully
cleared the ball 19 out of 23 opportunities, and committed only two
penalties for 1:30.
Leading the attack were Henenlotter and Wallin, who each netted
two goals. Marzocca and Fitzpatrick had the other two goals.
Martello finished with four assists, with Henenlotter and Marzocca
each grabbing an assist. All six goals for the Mavs were assisted.
Additionally, Mercy converted two of four extra man opportunities.
Joe Pulido won seven of the 13 faceoffs he took.
On defense, Michael
Munch (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) led all
players with seven groundballs. Pulido had five, mostly on faceoff
wins.
Mercy's next game, which will be the first home game in
program history, will be on Wednesday, March 3. In a game played at
Yorktown High School, Mercy will host Pace University at 4:00 p.m.
