DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 30, 2024) – Powered by a game-high seven points from senior Brody Caskenette (Owen Sound, Ontario/Owen Sound District Secondary School), the No. 5 Mercy University men's lacrosse team earned a convincing 21-2 win over ECC foe St. Thomas Aquinas College on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Field.

The Mavericks (8-1, 3-0 ECC) have won four games in a row and improved to 8-0 all-time against the Spartans (4-9, 1-2 ECC).

Mercy was led by Caskenette who had five goals and two assists with six ground balls. Graduate student TJ Heyder (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) had a game-high six goals with five ground balls and junior Ryan Smith (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) had two goals and two assists. Sophomore Connor Abrahall (Holtsville, N.Y./St. John the Baptist Diocesan) had two goals and senior Greg Gibbons (North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) had a game-high four assists. Sophomore Devon Duchnowski (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) had a goal and an assist and senior Andrew Calabria (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North), freshmen Jake Norton (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale), Christopher Bergersen (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) and Colin Orsino (Brookhaven, N.Y./Bellport) and graduate student Justin Gerdvil (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) also scored. Junior Ian Votta (Levittown, N.Y./NJIT) and sophomore AJ Barone (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) also had an assist and senior Jason Kuehner (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) went 15-of-18 on faceoffs with a game-high 10 ground balls. Kuehner recorded his 200th career ground ball and now has 206 for his career. Senior Tyler Pjatak (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) had a game-high three caused turnovers with five ground balls and freshman Cameron Dorfman (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) made five saves in 48:08 minutes of action to earn the win. Senior Tyler Vassell (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) made three saves in the final 11:52 minutes of action.

STAC was led by Reno Molina and Austin Palen who scored. Craig Peavy made a game-high 21 saves in 57:11 minutes of action to take the loss.

Duchnowski scored the game's first goal at the 12:37 mark of the first quarter to give Mercy a 1-0 lead. Caskenette later made it 20 with 8:35 left in the quarter after an assist from Gibbons. Heyder scored three straight goals to put the Mavericks up, 5-0, with 3:20 remaining in the quarter. Two more goals from both Caskenette and Heyder gave Mercy a commanding 9-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Heyder scored again to make it 10-0 at the 9:26 mark of the second quarter. Calabria, Caskenette and Bergersen tallied three more goals to give Mercy a 13-0 lead with 2:29 left in the half. Caskenette recorded the final goal of the quarter to give Mercy a 14-0 lead at halftime.

Smith, Gerdvil, and Norton opened the third quarter with goals to make it 17-0 with 10:06 left in the quarter. Abrahall and Orsino closed the quarter with goals to put the Mavericks up, 19-0, after three quarters.

Abrahall made it 20-0 at the 13:4 mark of the fourth quarter before Molina scored with 11:52 on the clock to end the shutout, making it 20-1. Palen later made it 20-2 with 7:03 left before Smith scored the Mavericks final goal with 5:43 on the clock, giving Mercy a 21-2 lead they would not relinquish.

Mercy held a 57-20 edge in shots, a 62-26 edge in ground balls and went 20-of-27 on faceoffs.

Head Coach Ryan MacSpadyen and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, April 6th when they play at Molloy at 3 p.m.