LAKEWOOD, N.J. (Feb. 21, 2019) – Powered by a game-high-tying three goals from junior Tommy McPartland (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale), the No. 5/6 Mercy College men's lacrosse team earned an 8-6 victory over Georgian Court University on Thursday afternoon.

The Mavericks (3-0) start 3-0 for the first time since 2017, while the Lions (1-1) suffer their first loss of the season.

McPartland led the way with three goals and freshman JoJo Janavey (Shrub Oak, N.Y./Lakeland) had two goals and two assists. Senior Bobby Chillianis (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) recorded a goal, an assist and five ground balls and sophomore Dominic Scorcia (Franklin Square, N.Y./Carey) and senior Eric Marzocca (North Babylon, N.Y./Nassau CC) also scored. Senior Ryan MacSpadyen (Toronto, Ontario/Seneca College) and juniors Joe Cortese (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland) and Kyle Gardner (Miller Place, N.Y./Rocky Point) dished out an assist and Gardner added two caused turnovers and four ground balls. Junior Antonio Rey (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) went 12-of-16 on faceoffs and senior Ryan Gibbons (Seaford, N.Y./Dowling College) made nine saves to earn the win.

Georgian Court was led by Patrick Quinn who had three goals and Austin Geissel made 18 saves to take the loss.

Mercy opened the contest with five straight goals in the first quarter to take a 5-0 lead after one quarter of play. McPartland started the scoring at the 14:04 mark and Chillianis added a man-up goal with 10:59 left in the quarter to make it 2-0. Janavey tallied two goals in the frame and Marzocca netted his first of the season to give Mercy a five-goal lead after one quarter.

The Lions scored two goals in the second quarter to head into halftime down, 5-2.

Georgian Court started the third quarter with two straight goals to make it 5-4 with 8:08 remaining in the period. McPartland gave Mercy a 6-4 advantage with his second of the day off an assist from MacSpadyen at the 1:40 mark. A Garven Hadden IV goal with four seconds left in the period sent the Lions into the fourth quarter down, 6-5.

Scorcia and McPartland recorded back-to-back goals for the Mavericks to start the fourth quarter, giving Mercy an 8-5 lead with 3:12 on the clock. A Devin Bell goal for the Lions made it 8-6, but the Mercy defense held Georgian Court scoreless the rest of the way to secure the win.

Mercy held a 42-20 edge in shots, a 41-36 edge in ground balls and won 13-of-17 faceoffs.

Head Coach Jordan Levine and the Mavericks resume action on Sunday, February 24th when they host Saint Rose at 12 p.m.