DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 28, 2024) – The No. 5 Mercy University men's lacrosse team hosts ECC foe St. Thomas Aquinas College on Saturday, March 30th at 11 a.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Saturday, March 30th 11 a.m.
Records: #5 Mercy (7-1, 2-0 ECC), St. Thomas Aquinas (4-8, 1-1 ECC)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Last Meeting vs. St. Thomas Aquinas
Mercy earned a 17-4 win over STAC on April 23, 2023.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off a 22-2 win over UDC on Friday. The Mavericks were led by graduate student TJ Heyder who had four goals and two assists and by senior Jason Kuehner who went 14-of-17 on faceoffs with a game-high 12 ground balls. Mercy entered 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 and tabbed to the USILA D2 Team of the Week on February 20th and was named to the Honor Roll on March 11th. Gibbons is second on the team with 34 points on 14 goals and a team-high-tying 20 assists with 11 ground balls. Senior Andrew Calabria has been tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll twice and has a team-high 36 points on 16 goals and a team-high-tying 20 assists. The senior recorded his 100th career point in the win over Bentley on February 23rd. Senior Brody Caskenette has 29 points on a team-high-tying 18 goals with 11 assists and freshman Christopher Bergersen has 15 goals and two assists. Graduate student TJ Heyder has been named to the ECC Honor Roll three times and has a team-high-tying 18 goals with eight assists. Sophomore Devon Duchnowski has recorded 16 goals and three assists and sophomore AJ Barone has five goals and two assists.
Senior Damiano Ferrara has five goals, two assists and recorded his 100th career ground ball against Georgian Court on February 27th. Senior Tyler Pjatak has two goals, three assists, 25 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers. Graduate student Justin Gerdvil has been named ECC Defensive Player of the Week twice and tabbed to the USILA D2 Team of the Week on March 5th and has a team-high 18 caused turnovers with 33 ground balls and senior Owen Stephenson has 13 caused turnovers with 21 ground balls. Gerdvil recorded his 200th career ground ball against Roberts Wesleyan on March 16th.
Senior Jason Kuehner was tabbed ECC Offensive Player of the Week last week, was tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll for a third time last week and was named to the USILA D2 Team of the Week on February 27th. He is 139-209 (.665) on faceoffs with a team-high 78 ground balls and freshman Cameron Dorfman has been named ECC Defensive Player of the Week twice and Rookie of the Week four times. Dorfman is 7-1 in goal with 93 saves, a .550 save percentage and 9.61 goals-against average.
The Mavericks are ranked No. 5 nationally in the USILA poll and No. 6 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll. Mercy is 7-0 all-time against St. Thomas Aquinas. The Mavericks have won 31 straight games against ECC competition, with their last loss coming in the 2018 ECC Championship Semifinal.
Scouting the Spartans
STAC is coming off a 9-8 overtime loss at Caldwell on Wednesday. The Spartans were picked fifth in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 6-7 last season. STAC is led by three-time ECC Rookie of the Week Joseph Casarella who has a team-high 31 goals and 39 points. Michael Huff is second on the team with 35 points on 14 goals and a team-high 21 assists and John Pena has 19 goals and five assists. Austin Palen has a team-high 73 ground balls and is 130-245 on faceoffs. John Morris has a team-high 25 caused turnovers and one-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week Craig Peavy is 4-8 in goal with 165 saves, a .536 save percentage and 12.00 goals-against average.
Next Game
Mercy plays at Molloy on Saturday, April 6th at 3 p.m.
