DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 4, 2021) – The No. 9 Mercy College men's lacrosse team opens their 2021 season on Friday, March 5th when they host Dominican College at 3 p.m.

Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Friday, March 5th 3 p.m.
Records: Mercy (0-0), Dominican (0-0)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
No spectators permitted due to COVID-19

Scouting the Mavericks

• Friday's game marks the first game for the Mavericks in 360 days due to COVID-19. 
• Mercy was picked to finish 1st in the ECC Preseason Poll and senior Sean Rigley was tabbed Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. The Mavericks went 5-1 during the 2020 COVID-19 shortened season. Mercy went 18-2 during their last full season in 2019 and won their first ECC Championship, making the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance with their first win.
• Mercy is currently ranked No. 9 in the USILA Coaches Poll and the Nike/US Lacrosse Magazine Poll.
• Mercy looks to win their third straight season opener.
• Mercy is 16-1 in their last 17 home games with the lone loss coming to nationally-ranked Mercyhurst on April 13, 2019.
• Mercy has had eight straight winning seasons and have made the ECC Tournament in each of the last five seasons the tournament was held.
• The Mavericks are 8-1 all-time against the Chargers with the lone loss coming in Mercy's inaugural season in 2010. Mercy has won the last four meetings by double-digit goals.
• Mercy is 9-2 all-time in season openers.
• The Mavericks return their top 11 scorers from a year ago. Senior Dominic Scorcia led Mercy with 22 goals and 13 assists last year. He was named ECC Player of the Week once and was named to the USILA Team of the Week. He had a school-record nine goals and 14 points in the win over Lake Erie on March 1, 2020.
• Also returning is junior Brady Kearnan who ranked second on the team with 17 goals and 11 assists in six games and was a one-time ECC Offensive Player of the Week. He scored the game-winning goal in overtime in Mercy's last game on March 10, 2020 against Bentley. Kearnan was named Second Team All-American by Inside Lacrosse following the 2020 season.
• Sophomore TJ Heyder was a one-time ECC Rookie of the Week last year and ranked third on the team with 17 points on seven goals and 10 assists. Also returning are seniors Marty Shargel and Robert LoRicco, junior Jack Gibbons, graduate student Tommy McPartland and sophomore Robert Guglielmo who all recorded double-digit points during the shortened season. McPartland is three goals shy of 100 for his career and would become the fifthMaverick to reach the mark.
• Leading the returners on defense are Rigley and graduate student Kyle Gardner. Rigley had 13 ground balls and six caused turnovers and Gardner had a team-high 10 caused turnovers with 13 ground balls. Juniors Jake Fitzgerald and Jack Kipnes also return after posting a combined 19 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers in 2020.
• Graduate student Antonio Rey returns in the face-off circle for the Mavericks. He finished with a team-high 54 ground balls in just six games and won 70 percent of his face-offs.
• Junior Tommy Umano returns in net after starting all six games last year. He went 5-1 with 52 saves and a .619 save percentage.
• Kearnan, McPartland, Gibbons, Rey and Rigley all received Preseason All-American honors from the USILA.

Scouting the Chargers

• Dominican was picked fourth in the CACC Preseason Poll after going 2-4 last year. The Chargers defeated AIC and UDC for their two wins a year ago.
• During their last full season in 2019, the Chargers went 3-12 and advanced to the CACC Tournament Semifinals.
• In the teams' last meeting on April 2, 2019, the Mavericks came away with an 18-6 win in Dobbs Ferry.
• Dominican last earned a road win on April 16, 2019 when they defeated Felician.
• The Chargers last won their season opener in 2016 against Georgian Court.
• Dominican's program dates back to 2003 and they were members of the ECC in men's lacrosse from 2007-2017.
• Leading the returners for the Chargers is senior Marcos Pierce who had a team-high 24 points on 10 goals and 14 assists. Pierce also added 23 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers. Redshirt sophomore Luke Martini also returns after posting 18 goals and five assists.
• Junior Stephen Falco returns in the face-off circle for Dominican after recording a team-high 49 ground balls. He also went 71-for-136 on face-offs.
• Freshmen goalies Patrick Gifford and Steffen Peabody return in goal after splitting time last year. Gifford went 2-2 with 50 saves and a .521 save percentage and Peabody went 1-2 with 72 saves and a .595 save percentage.

Next Game
Mercy resumes action on Saturday, March 13th when they play at Georgian Court at 3:30 p.m.