Wood's Late Goal Sends Men's Lacrosse to 13-12 Win Over Pace in Season Opener
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 21, 2015) – Powered by a game-winning goal by senior Jesse Wood (Binghamton, N.Y./Seton Catholic Central) with 21 seconds remaining left in regulation, the No. 14 Mercy College men's lacrosse team opened the 2015 campaign with a thrilling 13-12 victory over Pace University on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (1-0) have now won all three season openers under Head Coach Jordan Levine while the Setters (0-1) open up the season with a loss.
On a day that saw a back-and-forth tilt, Mercy got off to a quick start scoring the first three goals of the game as junior Kyle Stockton (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) tallied his first goal of the season and sophomore Daniel Speicher (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) netted a pair off feeds from Wood to give the Mavericks an early cushion ten minutes in.
Pace would get on the board on a man-up opportunity and got another one with 1:42 left in the first quarter to cut the Mercy lead to 3-2 heading into the second quarter.
Stockton gave the Mavericks a 4-2 lead less than five seconds into the second off another assist from Wood, but the Setters wouldn't back down as they came right back and scored a pair to knot it up at 4-4 at the 8:04 mark of the period.
Pace would take their first lead of the contest, 6-5, with 1:38 left before halftime, but the preseason All-American Third Team selection Wood ended the quarter with two of his three goals to give the Mavericks a 7-6 advantage heading into halftime.
Mercy built the lead back up to two, 8-6, following a Zack Haun (Buffalo, N.Y./West Seneca East Senior) goal at the 9:08 mark, but as they did all game Pace would claw its way back and tie up the game at 8-8 with 3:29 left in the third. Junior Robert Rossi (North Massapequa, N.Y./Adelphi) netted his first goal off a pass from Stockton that gave the Mavericks a 9-8 lead heading into the final quarter.
The Setters scored the first two goals of the fourth to take a 10-9 lead with 10:40 remaining and seemed to have the momentum on their side. However, Rossi added goal number two at the 9:09 mark to even things up at 10-10.
Nearly four minutes would go by before Stockton fired one past the goalkeeper to give Mercy back the lead at 11-10 with 5:53 remaining. Pace kept fighting and would score two in a row to take a 12-11 lead with 1:54 left in regulation.
With the Mavericks needing a goal to tie up the game, Stockton would find the back of the net with the equalizer with 43 seconds left following a Mercy timeout at the 1:14 mark.
Following a faceoff won by graduate student Kevin Glueckert (Bethpage, N.Y./Albany), the Mavericks would turn to the program's all-time leader in points in Wood for late heroics as the senior found his way to the left side of the field and made his way into the front of the net and fired one past the keeper with 21 seconds left to put Mercy up 13-12. Pace would win the ensuing faceoff but the Mavericks defense would hold to seal the win.
Wood ended the day with three goals and three assists on eight shots, while Stockton tallied his four goals on seven shots. Rossi added eight shots and three groundballs. Glueckert had a game-high 12 groundballs and went 18-of-27 in the face-off circle. Junior Goalkeeper A.J. Pellati (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) made eight saves in earning the win.
Mercy ended the day with a 44-25 edge in shots and 44-30 advantage in groundballs. The Mavericks were able to go 15-of-21 on clear attempts and the Setters went 14-of-19. Mercy also won the faceoff battle taking 18 of the 27 faceoffs on the day.
Head Coach Jordan Levine and the Mavericks return to action on Tuesday, February 24th as they host Saint Rose at 3 p.m.
