FROSTBURG, Md. (Apr. 13, 2024) – Powered by seven different Mavericks recording multiple points, the No. 5 Mercy University men's lacrosse team earned a 16-12 win over ECC foe No. 16 Frostburg State University on Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Stadium.
The Mavericks (10-1, 5-0 ECC) have won six games in a row and improve to 5-0 all-time against the Bobcats (9-3, 3-1 ECC). Mercy has secured their ninth straight ECC Tournament berth and has earned at least a share of the ECC Regular Season Championship and the top seed in the ECC Championship.
Mercy was led by senior Jason Kuehner (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) who had two goals, a game-high 12 ground balls and went 21-of-29 on faceoffs. Senior Andrew Calabria (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North) had a team-high six points on three goals and three assists and graduate student TJ Heyder (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) had three goals and one assist. Senior Greg Gibbons (North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) scored three goals and senior Brody Caskenette (Owen Sound, Ontario/Owen Sound District Secondary School) had two goals and an assist. Senior Tyler Pjatak (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) scored two goals, had seven ground balls and two caused turnovers. Freshman Christopher Bergersen (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) had a goal and an assist and sophomore Danny Fitzgerald (Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) and senior Damiano Ferrara (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) each had an assist. Graduate student Justin Gerdvil (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) had a game-high four caused turnovers with six ground balls, becoming the first Maverick in program history to record 100 career caused turnovers. Sophomore Peter Murphy (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Port Jefferson) made a game-high 11 saves to earn the win.
Frostburg State was led by Bubba Love who had a game-high six goals. Nate Jones made seven saves to take the loss.
Gibbons gave Mercy a 1-0 lead with 12:08 left in the first quarter. Gregg Dort Jr. won the ensuing faceoff and scored to tie the game at 1-1. Heyder, Caskenette, and Gibbons scored three straight goals to give the Mavericks a 4-1 lead with 5:42 remaining in the quarter. The Bobcats scored the final two goals of the quarter to cut Mercy's lead to 4-3 after one quarter.
Calabria, Pjatak, Bergersen and Kuehner scored the first four goals of the second quarter to give Mercy an 8-3 lead with 8:54 left in the half. Pjatak added his second goal of the quarter and Calabria and Heyder also scored to put the Mavericks up, 11-3, at the 5:56 mark. Frostburg State scored the next two goals to make it 11-5, but Gibbons closed the half with a goal to give Mercy a 12-5 lead at halftime.
Frostburg State opened the third quarter with three straight goals to make it 12-8 with 7:10 on the clock. Kuehner won the ensuing faceoff and scored his second goal of the game to make it 13-8. A Love goal made it 13-9 at the 1:24 mark, but Heyder found the back of the goal, off a Caskenette assist to give the Mavericks a 14-9 lead after the third quarter.
Henry Sykes made it 14-10 with 5:40 remaining. However, Caskenette answered with a man-up goal from Calabria to give Mercy a 15-10 lead with 4:56 left. The Bobcats later made it 15-11 with 3:15 on the clock before Calabria scored to put the Mavericks back up five, 16-11, with 2:39 left. A late Love goal was not enough, and Mercy earned the 16-12 road win.
Frostburg State held a 46-34 edge in shots and Mercy held a 51-36 edge in ground balls. Mercy went 22-of-32 on faceoffs.
Head Coach Ryan MacSpadyen and the Mavericks resume action on Sunday, April 21st when they host Mercyhurst at 12 p.m.
