DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 20, 2021) – Powered by the game-winning goal in overtime from graduate student Tommy McPartland (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale), the No. 8 Mercy College men's lacrosse team overcame a four-goal second half deficit to defeat Roberts Wesleyan College, 10-9, in their ECC opener and Making Strides for Cancer Pink Game on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (4-0, 1-0 ECC) remain unbeaten on the year, while the Redhawks (4-2, 0-1 ECC) have dropped two games in a row.
McPartland added two assists and junior Jack Gibbons (North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) had two goals and assisted on the game-winning goal. Junior Brady Kearnan (Courtice, Ontario/Newberry College) had a game-high five points on three goals and two assists and senior Dominic Scorcia (Franklin Square, N.Y./Carey) netted two goals and two assists. Senior Robert LoRicco (Guilford, Conn./University at Albany) scored two goals and graduate student Antonio Rey (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) had a game-high nine ground balls and went 16-of-22 on face-offs. Junior Jack Kipnes (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) had a game-high three caused turnovers with three ground balls. Junior Tommy Umano (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) made 12 saves to earn the win.
Roberts Wesleyan was led by Hunter Lemieux and Jordon Deats who both had a team-high four points on three goals and one assist. Pat Hynes made 22 saves to take the loss.
LoRicco got the scoring started at the 13:52 mark of the first quarter, off an assist from Scorcia, to give Mercy a 1-0 lead. Roberts Wesleyan tied the game up just over a minute later. It remained 1-1 until Kearnan scored his first of the day with 1:29 on the clock to give Mercy a 2-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Redhawks opened the second quarter with two straight goals to take a 3-2 lead with 7:25 left in the half. LoRicco netted his second of the day to tie the game up at 3-3 just over a minute later. Roberts Wesleyan came back with two straight goals to retake the lead at 5-3 with 3:23 remaining in the quarter. Scorcia closed out the scoring in the quarter to get the Mavericks to within one, 5-4, at halftime.
Roberts Wesleyan started the third quarter with three straight goals to take their largest lead of the game, 8-4, with 4:53 left in the period. A Scorcia goal from Kearnan with 25 seconds on the clock made it 8-5 at the end of the third quarter.
The Redhawks looked to be on their way to the upset as they held an 8-5 lead with six minutes left to play. However, the Mavericks showed why they are among the nation's best and scored four goals in just over five minutes to take a 9-8 lead with 23 seconds left. Gibbons scored the first goal of the run and Kearnan netted two more to tie the game up. Gibbons then netted the go-ahead goal, off an assist from McPartland, to give Mercy the lead. Just 11 seconds later Lemieux would tie the game up at 9-9 and the game remained tied after regulation so the teams headed to overtime.
The overtime period saw Roberts Wesleyan win the opening face-off but Umano came up with a big save to keep the game tied. The Mavericks would draw a slashing penalty with three minutes left in the overtime period. McPartland capitalized on the opportunity, taking a Gibbons pass and firing it past Hynes for the game winner.
Mercy held a 43-30 edge in shots, 36-23 edge in ground balls and went 16-of-22 on face-offs.
Head Coach Jordan Levine and the Mavericks resume action on Sunday, March 28th when they host Wilmington at 1 p.m.
