WASHINGTON, D.C. (Apr. 15, 2023) – Powered by 14 different Mavericks scoring, the No. 7/8 Mercy College men's lacrosse team earned a 24-3 win over ECC foe University of the District of Columbia on Saturday afternoon.
The Mavericks (10-2, 4-0 ECC) have won two games in a row, while the Firebirds (0-8, 0-4 ECC) remain winless on the season.
Senior Brady Kearnan (Courtice, Ontario/Newberry College) had a game-high four goals with an assist and graduate student Thomas Connors (Bellmore, N.Y./DeSales University) had a game-high six points on three goals and three assists. Senior TJ Heyder (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) had three goals and an assist and junior Justin DeMonte (Rocky Point, N.Y./Rocky Point) had a career-high-tying three goals. Senior Matt Gaughan (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey) had two goals and junior Andrew Calabria (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North) had a game-high four assists. Freshman Ryken Kutner (Riverhead, N.Y./Riverhead) and junior Greg Gibbons (North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) had a goal and three assists and junior Damiano Ferrara (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown), graduate student Jack Gibbons (North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) and freshman Anthony Barone (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) had a goal and an assist. Sophomore Ryan Smith (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) had a goal and two assists and junior Brody Caskenette (Owen Sound, Ontario/Owen Sound District Secondary School) and freshman Jack Agres (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) also scored. Junior Jason Kuehner (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) had a goal, four ground balls and went 10-of-16 on faceoffs. Freshman Devon Duchnowski (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) recorded an assist and senior PJ Argiros (Levittown, N.Y./Nassau CC) had a team-high five ground balls and went 7-of-10 on faceoffs. Sophomore Ryan Resnick (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) also had an assist and 13 Mavericks recorded one caused turnover. Graduate student Tommy Umano (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) made eight saves in the first half to earn the win. Sophomore Brett Crecco (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) made one save in 21:54 minutes of action without allowing a goal.
UDC was led by Maxwell Hansberry who had a team-high two goals. Najee Wilson made 14 saves to take the loss.
Kearnan gave Mercy a 1-0 lead at the 13:45 mark following an assist from Calabria. Connors made it 2-0 with 12:44 on the clock before Hansberry scored to make it 2-1 with 11:13 on the clock. Gibbons and Kuehner scored goals less than 10 seconds apart to give Mercy a 4-1 lead with 10 minutes left in the quarter. Connors, Kearnan and Ferrara scored three straight goals to make it 7-1 at the 7:51 mark. Heyder then netted three straight goals to increase the Mavericks lead to 10-1 with four minutes remaining in the quarter. Kearnan made it 11-1 before Dylan Donaldson scored for the Firebirds to make it 11-2 with 2:34 on the clock. Caskenette scored the final goal of the quarter to give Mercy a 12-2 lead after one quarter of play.
Kearnan and Connors scored goals in the first two minutes of the second quarter to make it 14-2. DeMonte scored two goals and Barone netted his goal to give Mercy a 17-2 lead with 9:57 left in the half. Kutner found the back of the net less than 20 seconds later to make it 18-2. Smith, Greg Gibbons and Agres followed with goals to give Mercy a 21-2 lead. Hansberry scored a late goal for the Firebirds to cut Mercy's lead to 21-3 at halftime.
DeMonte and Gaughan scored goals in the third quarter to give Mercy a 23-3 lead after three quarters.
Gaughan scored the lone goal of the fourth quarter with 8:07 on the clock to make it 24-3 before the game was called due to lightning.
Mercy held a 44-20 edge in shots, a 48-34 edge in ground balls and went 18-of-30 on faceoffs.
Head Coach Ryan MacSpadyen and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, April 19th when they host Adelphi at 3 p.m.
