DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 22, 2024) – The No. 5/9 Mercy University men's lacrosse team plays at No. 10 Bentley University on Friday, February 23rd at 5 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Friday, February 23rd 5 p.m.
Records: #5/9 Mercy (2-0), #10 Bentley (0-0)
Location: Waltham, Mass.
Last Meeting vs. Bentley
Mercy earned a 14-12 win over Bentley on March 22, 2023.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off a 19-10 win over Assumption on Saturday. The Mavericks were led by senior Andrew Calabria who had a game-high seven points on a game-high four goals and three assists. Senior Jason Kuehner went 23-of-31 on faceoffs with a game-high 11 ground balls and freshman Cameron Dorfman had a game-high 16 saves to earn the win. 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.
The Mavericks have been led by senior Greg Gibbons who was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday and tabbed to the USILA D2 Team of the Week after recording a team-high seven goals and 10 points to open the season. Senior Andrew Calabria was tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll on Tuesday and has a team-high-tying 10 points on six goals and a team-high-tying four assists. Senior Brody Caskenette has nine points on five goals and four assists and freshman Christopher Bergersen has six goals and two assists. Sophomore Devon Duchnowski has recorded two goals and three assists and junior Shane Roche has netted four goals.
Senior Damiano Ferrara has three goals and one assist and senior Tyler Pjatak has two goals, two assists, eight ground balls and three caused turnovers. Graduate student Justin Gerdvil has a team-high five caused turnovers with 10 ground balls and senior Owen Stephenson has four caused turnovers and 10 ground balls.
Senior Jason Kuehner was tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll on Tuesday and is 42-of-60 (.700) on faceoffs with a team-high 22 ground balls and freshman Cameron Dorfman was named ECC Defensive and Rookie of the Week on Tuesday. Dorfman is 2-0 in goal with 32 saves, a .627 save percentage and 9.50 goals-against average.
The Mavericks are ranked No. 5 nationally in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll and No. 9 in the USILA poll. Mercy looks to start 3-0 for the first time since 2022 and looks to improve to 4-0 all-time against Bentley.
Scouting the Falcons
Bentley is currently ranked No. 10 nationally in both the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll and USILA poll. The Falcons were picked second in the NE10 Preseason Poll after going 10-6 last season, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. Leading the returners for Bentley is Cam Bartolomeo who was named USILA Preseason First Team All-American at faceoff after winning 58.2 percent of his faceoffs last season with 6.19 ground balls per game. Nathan Alviti was tabbed a USILA Preseason Second Team All-American after recording 24 goals and 15 assists a year ago. Conor Segreti returns after ranking second on the team with 42 points on 26 goals and 16 assists last season. Kyle Piersiak had a team-high 15 caused turnovers last season and returns as does Jackson Tinsley who went 10-6 in goal with 158 saves, a .513 save percentage and 9.82 goals-against average.
Next Game
Mercy hosts Georgian Court on Tuesday, February 27th at 3 p.m.
