DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 15, 2024) – The No. 8/10 Mercy University men's lacrosse team hosts Assumption University on Saturday, February 17th at 1 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Saturday, February 17th 1 p.m.
Records: #8/10 Mercy (1-0), Assumption (0-0)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. (Mercy Field)
Last Meeting vs. Assumption
Mercy earned a 12-5 win over Assumption on February 23, 2013.
Scouting the Mavericks
The Mavericks are coming off a 20-9 win over RV Saint Rose in their season opener on Wednesday. Mercy was led by seniors Brody Caskenette and Greg Gibbons who each had four goals and by freshman Cameron Dorfman who had a game-high 16 saves to earn the win in his collegiate debut. Mercy enters the 2024 season ranked No. 8 nationally in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll and No. 10 nationally in the USILA poll. The Mavericks were picked first in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 14-4 last season, winning their fourth straight ECC Championship and qualifying for their fourth straight NCAA Tournament. Mercy looks to make the ECC Tournament for the ninth straight season. Second-year Head Coach Ryan MacSpadyen and the Mavericks return four USILA All-Americans from last year's team.
Leading the returners for the Mavericks is ECC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year graduate student Justin Gerdvil who was named USILA First Team All-American and ECC Defensive Player of the Year last season after recording a team-high 76 ground balls and 41 caused turnovers. Senior Jason Kuehner returns after being tabbed USILA Second Team All-American following a season in which he had a .656 faceoff win percentage and 69 ground balls. Senior Tyler Pjatak was named USILA Third Team All-American a year ago and returns after posting 54 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers. Graduate student TJ Heyder was an All-American Honorable Mention recipient from the USILA last season and returns after recording a team-high 59 goals with 69 points and 30 ground balls.
Kuehner was named USILA Preseason First Team All-American and Gerdvil and Pjatak were tabbed Second Team All-Americans. Gerdvil and Kuehner were named Inside Lacrosse Preseason First Team All-Americans and Pjatak was tabbed to the Second Team. Kuehner was also named USA Lacrosse Magazine Preseason First Team All-American, Gerdvil and Pjatak earned Second Team honors and Heyder received Third Team recognition.
Also returning for the Mavericks is senior Andrew Calabria who was named Second Team All-ECC last season after recording 22 goals, 26 assists and 48 points last season. Calabria ranked third on the team in assists last season. Senior Damiano Ferrara returns after being named Second Team All-ECC last season after recording 39 ground balls with four goals and two assists.
Senior Greg Gibbons recorded 10 goals, 13 assists and 23 points last season and sophomore Devon Duchnowski returns after recording 19 goals and two assists in a strong rookie campaign in 2023. Senior Brody Caskenette had 13 goals and five assists last season and junior Ryan Smith returns after posting six goals and nine assists in 2023.
Senior Justin DeMonte, junior Ian Votta, and sophomores Ryken Kutner, Connor Abrahall, AJ Barone, and Jack Agres return after combining for 28 goals and 14 assists last season. Junior Ryan Resnick returns after going 14-of-24 on faceoffs last season with 11 ground balls and one assist. Joining the faceoff team for the Mavericks is sophomore transfer Kenneth Summit who joins the Mavericks from Limestone University. Summit had a .555 faceoff win percentage with 28 ground balls last season for the Saints.
Graduate student James Distefano returns on defense after recording four caused turnovers and eight ground balls in eight starts last season. Sophomores Sean Higgins, Danny Fitzgerald, Joe Sorok, Matthew Kramer and Michael Corbo and seniors Michael Morra and Gabe DeRoché also return for the Mavericks and look to see increased playing time in 2024.
Returning in goal for the Mavericks is sophomore Peter Murphy who appeared in four games last season and made eight saves with a .727 save percentage and 6.75 goals-against average. Senior Tyler Vassell also returns in goal after appearing in three contests last season. Leading the newcomers in goal is freshman Cameron Dorfman who was named MVP of the Suffolk County Championship.
MacSpadyen will also look to freshmen Justin Ortiz, Jake Norton, Colin Orsino, Jason Kassis, Dillon Osorio and Christopher Bergersen and transfers Owen Stephenson, Eddie Montemurro and Shane Roche to help the Mavericks get back to the NCAA Tournament. Orsino was an All-Suffolk County Honorable Mention selection and had 52 points during his senior season and Bergersen and Norton were State Championship Finalists at Farmingdale High School and Bergersen was tabbed All-County. Stephenson played at CCBC Essex last season and had a team-high 22 caused turnovers with 48 ground balls. Roche played for Onondaga Community College in 2022 and had eight goals and two assists in 11 games. Montemurro returns to the Mavericks after beginning his career with Mercy before heading to Binghamton University. The graduate student appeared in four games for the Mavericks in 2020 with two ground balls.
Caskenette had a game-high six points on four goals and two assists in the win over Saint Rose and Gibbons netted a career-high four goals with one assist. Pjatak added two goals, an assist, five ground balls and a game-high three caused turnovers and senior Andrew Calabria and freshman Christopher Bergersen both had two goals and an assist. Junior Shane Roche netted two goals in his Mercy debut and junior Ryan Smith and sophomore AJ Barone both had a goal and an assist. Gerdvil had an assist, six ground balls and two caused turnovers and Kuehner went 19-of-29 on faceoffs with a game-high 11 ground balls. Dorfman made 16 saves and allowed just nine goals in 60 minutes to earn his first collegiate win in his first collegiate start.
Mercy won their sixth straight season opener and their 12th straight home opener on Wednesday. The Mavericks are 1-0 all-time against Assumption with the lone meeting coming at Assumption in 2013. Mercy looks to start 2-0 for the sixth straight season.
Scouting the Greyhounds
Assumption was picked eighth in the NE10 Preseason Poll after going 4-10 last season. Leading the returners for the Greyhounds is Ryan Healey who led the team with 43 points last season and was second with 31 goals. Cameron Theriault was third on the team a year ago with 19 points and had a team-high 13 assists and Sam Maciel had 13 goals and four assists. Nick Polymeros had a team-high 57 ground balls last season and went 106-of-210 (.505) on faceoffs. Tom Raeke and Jack Galvin both return after recording a team-high-tying 19 caused turnovers in 2023. Colin Malone is back in net after going 4-10 last season with 179 saves, a 12.37 goals-against average and .533 save percentage.
Next Game
Mercy plays at Bentley on Friday, February 23rd at 5 p.m.
