GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (Mar. 2, 2024) – Despite a game-high six points from senior Andrew Calabria (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North), the No. 9 Mercy University men's lacrosse team dropped a hard-fought 13-12 overtime decision at No. 5 Adelphi University on Saturday afternoon at Motamed Field.
The Mavericks (4-1) have their four-game winning streak snapped and fall to the Panthers (2-1) for the second straight year.
Mercy was led by Calabria who had a game-high six points on two goals and four assists. Graduate student TJ Heyder (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) had a game-high-tying four goals and sophomore Devon Duchnowski (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) had three goals. Senior Greg Gibbons (North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) had a goal and three assists and senior Brody Caskenette (Owen Sound, Ontario/Owen Sound District Secondary School) and freshman Christopher Bergersen (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) each had a goal. Senior Jason Kuehner (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) went 20-of-27 on faceoffs with a game-high 10 ground balls and graduate student Justin Gerdvil (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) had six ground balls and two caused turnovers. Freshman Cameron Dorfman (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) made eight saves to take the loss.
Adelphi was led by Logan Tucker who had a team-high five points on four goals and one assist. Dylan Renner made a game-high 12 saves to earn the win.
Gibbons gave Mercy a 1-0 lead less than a minute into the game, off an assist from Calabria, at the 14:32 mark. Brian Harinski tied the game at 1-1 with 12:28 on the clock before back-to-back goals from Heyder and a goal from Bergersen gave Mercy a 4-1 lead with 2:52 left in the opening quarter. The Mavericks headed into the second quarter with a 4-1 lead.
A Duchnowski man-up goal less than 30 seconds into the second quarter gave Mercy a 5-1 lead. The Panthers recorded the final seven goals of the quarter to take an 8-5 lead at halftime.
A Ryan Bauco goal to open the third quarter gave Adelphi their largest lead of the game, 9-5, at the 12:23 mark. The Mavericks continued to battle and rattled off three straight goals from Caskenette, Calabria and Heyder to cut the Panthers lead to one, 9-8, with 7:03 left in the quarter. Tucker made it 10-8 in favor of Adelphi before Calabria closed the quarter with a goal to send Mercy into the fourth quarter down one, 10-9.
Kyle Lewis found the back of the net at the 13:09 mark of the fourth quarter to give Adelphi an 11-9 lead. Two straight goals from Duchnowski tied the score at 11-11 with 9:54 left in regulation. Harinski gave the lead back to Adelphi, 12-11, with 4:28 remaining in regulation. Heyder tied the game again, 12-12, with 3:29 on the clock and both goalies made one save in the final three minutes of regulation to send the game into overtime tied at 12-12.
Tucker scored the game-winning goal with 1:53 left in the first overtime, off a Bauco assist, to give Adelphi the 13-12 overtime win.
Adelphi held a 37-33 edge in shots, Mercy held a 39-28 edge in ground balls and went 20-of-27 on faceoffs.
Head Coach Ryan MacSpadyen and the Mavericks resume action on Sunday, March 10th when they play at Seton Hill at 12 p.m.
