Wilcox Assists on Three as Men's Lacrosse Battles to Halftime Lead at ECC Rival No. 10 NYIT
Box Score OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Mar. 15, 2014) – Freshman Nick Wilcox (Hamburg, N.Y. / Hamburg) made a season-high three assists as the Mercy College men's lacrosse team took an early lead and held it through halftime before bowing out at East Coast Conference rival No. 10 NYIT on Saturday afternoon.
Mercy, which received votes in the latest USILA Division II Coaches' Poll for the third straight week, is now 5-2 overall and 0-2 in the ECC while NYIT improves to 5-2 (2-0).
The Mavericks got off to the right start with a goal by junior C.J. Fleming (Middletown, N.Y. / Herkimer County CC) at the 10:47 mark, but the Bears quickly equalized at 9:11. NYIT opened the second quarter with a man-up advantage and capitalized just 14 seconds in, but Mercy responded immediately as freshman Ross Schnitzer (Scarsdale, N.Y. / Loyola Univ. Md.) scored just four seconds after the Mavericks won the ball on a faceoff violation.
NYIT retook the lead just two minutes later, but once again Mercy equalized as Wilcox found junior Zack Haun (West Seneca, N.Y. / West Seneca East Senior) open with 6:38 left in the half. The Mavericks kept up their relentless attack, ripping four straight shots over just 50 seconds, and finally broke through to regain the lead on Fleming's second goal of the day, with junior Jesse Wood (Binghamton, N.Y. / Seton Catholic Central) notching his first point of the game and becoming the all-time leader in points in program history with the assist. Mercy went into halftime ahead, 4-3.
Sophomore A.J. Pellati (West Islip, N.Y. / West Islip) did well to keep NYIT out of the cage in the first half, making six saves against just three goals allowed, but the Bears offense could not be contained in the second half as NYIT rolled out three unanswered goals in the third quarter to take a 6-4 lead heading into the final period. The Bears added another early goal in the fourth quarter and the Mavericks would get no closer than two the rest of the way, ultimately falling, 10-6.
Mercy battled hard all game, posting a 38-30 shot advantage and matching the Bears in everything but turnovers (24-18). Wilcox's three points led the Mavericks while Fleming led the squad with two goals and Wood scored and assisted once each. Freshman Chris Lopez (Farmingdale, N.Y. / Farmingdale) scored the remaining goal, his fourth man-up tally of the season. Graduate student Kevin Glueckert (Bethpage, N.Y. / Univ. at Albany) turned in an excellent performance on faceoffs, winning 12-of-18 against Nick Pelella, who ranks third in the ECC. Junior Owen Krezmien (Buffalo, N.Y. / Canisius College) led the team with three caused turnovers while Pellati finished with seven saves.
Head Coach Jordan Levine and the Mavericks will look to bounce back in their annual night game at Bethpage High School on Tuesday, Mar. 18 when they host Saint Michael's College (0-3) under the lights at 7 p.m.
