HILLBURN, N.Y. (Feb. 11, 2023) – Powered by a game-high nine points from senior Brady Kearnan (Courtice, Ontario/Newberry College), the No. 2 Mercy College men's lacrosse team opened their 2023 season with a convincing 23-1 win over Dominican University on Saturday afternoon at the Torne Valley Sports Complex.
The Mavericks (1-0) win their fifth straight season opener and improve to 10-1 all-time against the Chargers (0-1). The one goal allowed is the fewest goals allowed by the Mavericks in a game in program history. The 22-goal margin of victory is also the largest in a single game in program history. The victory is also the first collegiate win as a head coach for first-year Head Coach Ryan MacSpadyen.
Kearnan had a game-high-tying four goals and a game-high five assists. Graduate student Jack Gibbons (North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) recorded a game-high-tying four goals and an assist and senior TJ Heyder (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) netted three goals. Graduate student Thomas Connors (Bellmore, N.Y./DeSales University) produced two goals and two assists in his Mercy debut and junior Greg Gibbons (North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) had a career-high four points on two goals and two assists. Freshmen Connor Abrahall (Holtsville, N.Y./St. John the Baptist Diocesan), Devon Duchnowski (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) and Anthony Barone (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) both scored twice in their collegiate debuts. Sophomore Ryan Smith (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) had a goal and an assist and sophomore Ian Votta (Levittown, N.Y./NJIT) also scored. Freshman Jack Agres (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) dished out two assists and had two caused turnovers in his collegiate debut and junior Andrew Calabria (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North) and seniors Robert Guglielmo (Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) and Mustapha Daffeh (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) also added an assist. Junior Jason Kuehner (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) went 15-of-17 on faceoffs with a game-high seven ground balls. Sophomore Daniel Mcloughlin (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) had a game-high three caused turnovers in his collegiate debut. Graduate student Tommy Umano (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) made two saves in the first quarter to earn the win. Graduate student Joe Tortorella (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey) made two saves in 21:21 minutes of action and sophomore Brett Crecco (Carmel, N.Y./Mahopac) and freshman Peter Murphy (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Port Jefferson) combined for four saves in 19:11 minutes of action. Junior Tyler Vassell (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) played in 4:28 minutes of action and did not face a shot on goal.
Dominican was led by Sean Cosgrove who scored a goal. Geraldo Caltagirone allowed 11 goals in 11:32 minutes of action to take the loss.
The game was scoreless until the 13:26 mark when Connors started the scoring onslaught with a man-up goal from Kearnan to give the Mavericks a 1-0 lead. Jack Gibbons followed with his first goal of the season less than a minute later to make it 2-0. Back-to-back goals from Jack Gibbons and Heyder less than a minute apart put Mercy up, 4-0, with 11 minutes left in the quarter. Duchnowski got in the scoring column with his first collegiate goal at the 10:38 mark to make it 5-0. Kearnan netted his first goal of the season at the 8:20 mark to increase the lead to 6-0. The first goal of the day from Greg Gibbons and back-to-back Heyder goals made it 9-0 with six minutes left in the first quarter. Connors made it an even 10 goals in the first quarter with his second of the day before Kearnan tacked on two straight goals to give the Mavericks a commanding 12-0 advantage with 2:23 on the clock. Barone, Kearnan and Jack Gibbons capped off the scoring in the quarter to give the Mavericks an impressive 15-0 lead after one quarter of play. The Mavericks dominated play in the quarter outshooting the Chargers 23-2 in the quarter.
Back-to-back goals to open the second quarter from Jack and Greg Gibbons made it 17-0 with 13:16 left in the half. Duchnowski and Barone both recorded their second collegiate goals to conclude the scoring in the quarter, giving Mercy a 19-0 lead at halftime.
Votta made it 20-0 less than a minute into the third quarter, off an assist from Agres. The Chargers scored their lone goal of the game at the 8:39 mark following a Cosgrove goal. Consecutive goals from Abrahall increased the Mavericks lead to 22-1 after three quarters.
Smith netted the final goal of the game with 12:49 left in the fourth quarter to put the Mavericks up 23-1. Mercy cruised the rest of the way enroute the season-opening win.
Mercy held a 34-13 edge in shots, a 44-15 edge in ground balls and went 21-of-28 on faceoffs.
Head Coach Ryan MacSpadyen and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, February 15th when they play at Saint Rose at 4 p.m.
