DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 22, 2024) – Powered by 13 different Mavericks scoring, the No. 7 Mercy University men's lacrosse team earned a convincing 22-2 win over ECC foe University of the District of Columbia on Friday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (7-1, 2-0 ECC) have won three games in a row and defeat the Firebirds (1-6, 0-1 ECC) for the eighth straight time.
Mercy was led by graduate student TJ Heyder (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) who had a game-high six points on a game-high four goals with two assists. Sophomore Ryken Kutner (Riverhead, N.Y./Riverhead) added three goals and senior Andrew Calabria (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North) had two goals and two assists. Junior Ryan Smith (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) and sophomores Jack Agres (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) and AJ Barone (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) each scored two goals and senior Brody Caskenette (Owen Sound, Ontario/Owen Sound District Secondary School) had a goal and three assists. Sophomore Devon Duchnowski (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place), senior Michael Morra (Farmingdale, N.Y./Plainedge), freshmen Colin Orsino (Brookhaven, N.Y./Bellport) and Christopher Bergersen (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) and junior Ian Votta (Levittown, N.Y./NJIT) also scored. Senior Jason Kuehner (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) had a goal and went 14-of-17 on faceoffs with a game-high 12 ground balls and senior Greg Gibbons (North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) had two assists. Freshman Dillon Osorio (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Saint Anthony's) and sophomore Connor Abrahall (Holtsville, N.Y./St. John the Baptist Diocesan) had two assists and junior Ryan Resnick (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) went 5-of-5 on faceoffs with an assist and five ground balls. Senior Justin DeMonte (Rocky Point, N.Y./Rocky Point) added an assist and senior Owen Stephenson (Glen Rock, N.J./UDC/CCBC Essex), graduate student Justin Gerdvil (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) and freshmen Jake Norton (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) and Jason Kassis (Long Island, N.Y./Sachem East) each had a team-high two caused turnovers. Freshman Cameron Dorfman (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) played the first 52:29 in goal with six saves to earn the win. Senior Tyler Vassell (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) played the final 7:31 minutes in goal.
UDC was led by Julian Schemm and Dylan Donaldson who both scored. Najee Wilson made a game-high 14 saves to take the loss.
Mercy wasted little time in scoring as Calabria and Caskenette scored goals in the first minute of play to give the Mavericks a 2-0 lead at the 14:15 mark. Bergersen and Heyder continued the onslaught with two more goals to make it 4-0 with 11:53 left in the first quarter. Heyder and Barone made it 6-0 with goals, forcing a UDC timeout with 9:15 remaining in the quarter. Following the timeout, Heyder recorded two more goals to make it 8-0 and Calabria, Duchnowski, Smith and Kuehner closed the quarter with goals to give Mercy a commanding 12-0 lead after the first quarter.
Agres opened the scoring in the second quarter to give Mercy a 13-0 lead with 9:52 left in the half. Back-to-back UDC goals made it 13-2 with 5:16 remaining in the quarter. Barone scored the final goal of the quarter with 2:24 on the clock and the Mavericks headed into halftime with a 14-2 lead.
Orsino and Smith began the scoring in the third quarter to give Mercy a 16-2 lead with 12:53 left in the quarter. Votta, Morra and Kutner scored three goals in the final two minutes of the quarter to put the Mavericks up, 19-2, after three quarters.
Agres scored again at the 11:32 mark of the fourth quarter to make it 20-2 and Kutner tallied Mercy's final two goals to give the Mavericks the convincing 22-2 win.
Mercy held a 52-14 edge in shots, a 59-25 edge in ground balls and went 22-of-26 on faceoffs.
Head Coach Ryan MacSpadyen and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, March 30th when they host STAC at 11 a.m.
