Wood Records Hat-Trick as No. 9/10 Men's Lacrosse Travels to No. 7/8 NYIT
Box Score OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Apr. 15, 2015) – Despite a hat-trick from senior Jesse Wood (Binghamton, N.Y./Seton Catholic Central), the No. 9/10 Mercy College men's lacrosse team suffered a narrow 10-9 setback to ECC foe No. 7/8 NYIT on Wednesday afternoon at President's Stadium.
The Mavericks (9-3, 4-2 ECC) see their two-game winning streak come to a halt, while the Bears (9-2, 6-1 ECC) bounce back from their loss to first place LIU Post on Saturday.
Wood ended with three goals on four shots and also had a team-high four ground balls, while junior Robert Rossi (North Massapequa, N.Y./Adelphi) and sophomore Nick Wilcox (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) each contributed two goals and an assist. Sophomore Daniel Speicher (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) netted a goal and an assist and junior Kyle Stockton (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) found the back of the net once. Freshman goalkeeper Michael Schneider (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) made nine saves in taking the loss.
NYIT received three goals apiece from Shawn Murphy and George Schultz.
In a matchup with ECC playoff implications, a defensive battle would break out early on as neither team could find the back of the net in the first quarter. The Mavericks held a 7-5 edge in shots after one quarter of play and both goalies came up with key saves led by Schneider who made four saves in the period.
Mercy finally broke the scoring drought with a man-up goal by Wilcox off a feed from Speicher to make it 1-0. Using the momentum from their first goal and another man-up opportunity, the Mavericks tacked on another goal as Wood put one past the NYIT goalkeeper to make it 2-0 with just over nine minutes left before halftime.
The Bears would awaken and score four unanswered goals to close the half, including two man-up goals, to take a 4-2 lead at halftime.
A third NYIT man-up goal opened the scoring in the second half to give the Bears a 5-2 lead with 13:38 left in the quarter. Wilcox provided the Mavericks with an answer just over a minute later to cut the deficit to two at 5-3.
A pair of NYIT goals and a man-up goal by Wood made it 7-4 Bears with just over eight minutes left in the third. Speicher and Wood would tally a pair of goals to cut the NYIT lead to 7-6 with just under two minutes in the third and shift the momentum over to Mercy's side. However, a late goal by the Bears in the quarter would provide them with a two-goal lead, 8-6, heading into the final quarter.
Rossi opened up the fourth quarter with an unassisted goal at the 13:04 mark to once again get the Mavericks to within one at 8-7. Once again though NYIT would have a response, this time with two unanswered goals, to build the lead back up to three, 10-7, with 8:52 left to play.
As has been the case all season, Mercy would not go down without a fight and Stockton and Rossi would deliver with a pair of goals to get the Mavericks back to within one at 10-9 with just over five minutes left.
The ensuing five minutes would see NYIT control possession most of the way and hold off the Mavericks to earn the win.
Mercy outshot the Bears 29-28, but NYIT maintained a 32-20 edge in ground balls. The Mavericks went 4-for-5 on man-up opportunities and won 11-of-22 faceoffs.
Head Coach Jordan Levine and the Mavericks to rebound as they play at Dominican College on Sunday, April 19th at 7 p.m.
