Rossi Tallies Game-High Five Goals as No. 13 Men's Lacrosse Travels to No. 9/14 Seton Hill
Box Score GREENSBURG, Pa. (Feb. 28, 2015) – Despite a late fourth-quarter rally and a game-high five goals from junior Robert Rossi (North Massapequa, N.Y./Adelphi), the No. 13 Mercy College men's lacrosse team dropped a 12-11 decision to No. 9/14 Seton Hill University on Saturday afternoon at Dick's Field.
The Mavericks (2-1) suffer their first loss of the 2015 season, while the Griffins (3-0) remain unbeaten on the year.
Rossi ended the day with five goals and an assist for six points and had a game-high eight shots on goal. Senior Jesse Wood (Binghamton, N.Y./Seton Catholic Central) added three goals and an assist on seven shots and fellow senior Zack Haun (Buffalo, N.Y./West Seneca East Senior) chipped in with two goals and helped out on another. Sophomore Nick Wilcox (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) finished with a goal and an assist and junior Kyle Stockton (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) dished out two assists.
In a game that lived up to its hype as both teams came in ranked in the top 15 in the country, Mercy would get on the board first with a man-up goal from Rossi at the 7:59 mark of the opening quarter. Less than a minute later Wood tallied his first of the day to give the Mavericks a 2-0 lead just over midway through the opening quarter.
Seton Hill responded by scoring three of the next four goals in the frame to knot up the score at 3-3 with 1:52 left on the clock. Mercy with 42 seconds on the clock regained the lead on Rossi's third goal of the day and headed into the second quarter up 4-3.
Rossi found the back of the net for the fourth time on the day at the 9:45 mark of the second quarter to give the Mavericks a two-goal lead at 5-3. However, the Griffins scored two unanswered to end the half including one with 38 seconds left to send the teams into halftime tied at 5-5.
The beginning of the second half saw Seton Hill build off their momentum as they picked up the first two goals of the third quarter to take a 7-5 lead with 10:08 remaining. Haun would end the scoring drought for the Mavericks with his first of the day at the 9:29 mark to make it 7-6.
The Griffins came back and scored four of the next five goals in the period to build an 11-7 lead after three quarters of play.
A goal by Seton Hill at the 11:35 mark of the fourth quarter put the Griffins up 12-7, their largest lead of the game, and looked to be running away with the contest. However, the Mavericks would not make things easy for the home team as they scored four goals in a row to make it 12-11 with 1:51 left to play.
Mercy, who had won a pair of one-goal games to start the season, would fall on the wrong side of a one-goal decision as they could not win the ensuing faceoff following Rossi's fifth goal of the day and Seton Hill ran out the clock to seal the win.
Both teams took 33 shots on the day with the Griffins holding a 35-28 edge in ground balls and going 3-of-6 on man-up situations. The Mavericks won 14-of-27 faceoffs and went 18-of-21 in clear attempts on the afternoon.
Head Coach Jordan Levine and the Mavericks look to bounce back as they head to Saint Anselm on Wednesday, March 4th at 4:00 p.m.
