DOBB FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 14, 2023) – The No. 2/3 Mercy College men's lacrosse team plays at The College of Saint Rose on Wednesday, February 15th at 4 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Wednesday, February 15th 4 p.m.
Records: No. 2/3 Mercy (1-0), Saint Rose (0-0)
Location: Albany, N.Y.
Last Meeting
Mercy earned an 11-8 win over Saint Rose on February 19, 2022.
Scouting the Mavericks
· Mercy is coming off a 23-1 win over Dominican in their season opener on Saturday. The Mavericks were led by senior Brady Kearnan who had a game-high nine points on four goals and five assists. The one goal allowed was the fewest goals allowed in a game in program history and the 22-goal margin of victory was the largest in a game in program history. The win also gave first-year Head Coach Ryan MacSpadyen his first collegiate win.
· Graduate student Jack Gibbons has four goals and one assist on the season and graduate student Thomas Connors and junior Greg Gibbons both have four points on two goals and two assists. Senior TJ Heyder has three goals and freshmen Connor Abrahall, Anthony Barone and Devon Duchnowski all had two goals on Saturday. Sophomore Ryan Smith netted a goal and an assist and freshman Jack Agres dished out two assists. Sophomore Ian Votta added a goal and seniors Mustapha Daffeh and Robert Guglielmo and junior Andrew Calabria had an assist.
· The defense was led by sophomore Daniel Mcloughlin who had a team-high three caused turnovers and by Agres who had two caused turnovers. Junior Jason Kuehner went 15-of-17 on faceoffs with a game-high seven ground balls and graduate student Tommy Umano made two saves in the first quarter to earn the win in goal.
· Kearnan was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week and Barone was tabbed ECC Rookie of the Week on Monday. Jack Gibbons was also tabbed to the Honor Roll.
· Mercy looks to start 2-0 for the fifth straight season and looks to improve to 10-0 all-time against the Golden Knights.
· The Mavericks are ranked No. 2 nationally in the USILA poll and No. 3 nationally in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Magazine poll. Mercy was ranked No. 2 nationally in the preseason for the first time in program history.
· Mercy was picked to finish first in the ECC Preseason Poll and Kearnan was named ECC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and graduate student Jack Kipnes was tabbed Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
· The Mavericks made their third straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament last season and advanced to the National Championship Game for the first time last season. Mercy also won their third straight ECC Regular Season and Tournament Championships last season.
· Mercy has had 10 straight winning seasons and have qualified for the ECC Championship in seven straight seasons.
· The Mavericks are 49-6 in their last 55 games dating back to the start of the 2019 season.
· Kearnan was named to the Inside Lacrosse Player of the Year Watch List on February 10th and Kearnan, senior Justin Gerdvil, Jack Gibbons, Kipnes and graduate student Tommy Umano were tabbed USILA Preseason All-Americans on February 1st.
· Kearnan, Gerdvil, Jack Gibbons, Kipnes, junior Tyler Pjatak and Umano were named Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-Americans on January 27th.
· Gibbons was named USA Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Midfielder of the Year and Kearnan, Gerdvil, Kipnes, Umano and Pjatak were tabbed to the Preseason All-American Teams.
Scouting the Golden Knights
· Saint Rose was picked seventh in the NE10 Preseason Poll after going 8-9 last season.
· The Golden Knights are looking to win their season opener for the second straight season.
· Saint Rose is 0-9 all-time against Mercy with the last meeting in Albany coming in 2018.
· Leading the returners for the Golden Knights is senior Eddie Baker who had a team-high 55 points last season on 42 goals and 13 assists. Senior Cam Smith also returns after ranking second on the team with 46 points on 39 goals and seven assists.
· Senior Gabriel Nish ranked third on the team last season with 34 points on 23 goals and 11 assists and junior Edward Wurszt returns after ranking second on the team with 22 caused turnovers last season with 37 ground balls. Sophomore Riley Hauf also returns after leading the team with 26 caused turnovers a year ago.
· Graduate student Dominic Meola ranked second on the team in ground balls last season with 41. Senior Ryan Fleming went 6-8 in goal last season with 209 saves, a .566 save percentage and 11.39 goals-against average. Senior Christian Hunt also returns in goal for Saint Rose after going 1-1 with 33 saves, a .524 save percentage and 12.99 goals-against average last season.
Next Game
Mercy plays at No. 4/8 Le Moyne on Sunday, February 19th at 12 p.m.
