Bobby McDonough Scores Game-High Five Goals as No. 14 Men's Lacrosse Opens Up 2016 Season With 20-4 Victory Over AIC
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 20, 2016) – Led by 13 different Mavericks recording a goal, highlighted by a game-high five goals from senior Bobby McDonough (Farmingdale, N.Y./Plainedge), the No. 14 Mercy College men's lacrosse team opened up its 2016 campaign with a 20-4 victory over American International College on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (1-0) have now won their season opener for the fourth year in a row, while the Yellow Jackets (0-1) have now lost 12 games in a row dating back to last season.
McDonough scored on all five of his shots on goal and added a groundball, while senior Kyle Stockton (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) added two goals, one assist and four groundballs. Also, recording a pair of goals was senior Thomas Lackaye (Summit, N.J./Summit) and freshman Ryan MacSpadyen (Toronto, Ontario/Seneca College). Seniors Robert Rossi (North Massapequa, N.Y./Adelphi) and Connor McLachlan (Albany, N.Y./Guilderland) and junior Daniel Speicher (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) finished with a goal and two assists each.
Rounding out the Mavericks who scored were senior Ben Shepherd (Huntington Station, N.Y./Univ. of Tampa), juniors Richie Morris (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) and Nick Wilcox (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg), freshmen Austin Berger (Ossining, N.Y./Ossining) and Nick D'Amaro (Manorville, N.Y./Eastport-South-Manor) and sophomore Ross Schnitzer (Scarsdale, N.Y./Loyola University Maryland). Defensively, Mercy was led by senior Peter LoParo (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) who ended the afternoon with five groundballs and three caused turnovers. Senior A.J. Pellati (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) made the start in net and made five saves in the first half to pick up the win. D'Amaro also went 8-of-16 in faceoffs and added two groundballs.
American International received goals from Colton Larkin, Jack McIntyre, Kevin Papineau and John Magliano. Goalkeeper Tariq Qureshi made eight saves in a losing effort.
Playing in front of a large home crowd in their season opener, the Mavericks wasted little time in putting on a show for the home fans as Stockton got Mercy on the board less than two minutes into the first quarter.
Wilcox followed with a man-up goal just over a minute later to put the Mavericks up 2-0 quickly. McIntyre got AIC on the board at the 10:06 mark and the visitors looked like they may be up for the challenge. However, McDonough answered a few minutes later with his first of the day to put Mercy up 3-1 and the Mavericks headed into the second quarter ahead by the same margin.
McDonough did not wait long to make his presence felt in the second quarter as he scored a pair of goals in less than three minutes to put Mercy up 5-1 with 12:31 left before half. Morris and MacSpadyen got into the action with goals at the 11:32 and 10:40 mark to increase the Mavericks lead to 7-1, forcing a Yellow Jacket timeout.
Papineau tallied a goal with 7:44 left in the quarter to make it 7-2, but Stockton and MacSpadyen each picked up their second goals of the day to conclude the half to give Mercy a 9-2 lead at halftime.
McLachlan started off the scoring in the third quarter with a man-up goal and Rossi followed at the 12:27 mark with his first of the season to make it 11-2 in favor of the Mavericks. Speicher, D'Amaro and Schnitzer each followed with tallies in the period to put the game out of reach at 14-2 with ten minutes left in the third quarter.
AIC closed the quarter with two goals, but Lackaye scored his two goals in the final six minutes of the third quarter to keep the Mavericks up 12, 16-4, after three quarters. The final period saw McDonough pick up a pair while Berger and Shepherd rounded out the scoring for Mercy who kept the visitors off the board in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
The Mavericks ended the contest with a 51-26 edge in shots and a 41-22 advantage in groundballs.
Head Coach Jordan Levine and the Mavericks resume action on Tuesday, February 23rd when they host Georgian Court at 3 p.m.
