DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 28, 2024) – Powered by a single-game school record 15 points and 10 assists from junior Ryan Smith (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) and a career-high eight saves from senior Tyler Vassell (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman), the No. 5 Mercy University men's lacrosse team earned a 27-8 Senior Day win over ECC foe D'Youville University on Sunday afternoon at Mercy Field.
In a ceremony prior to the game, the Mavericks honored seniors and graduate students TJ Heyder (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue), Tyler Pjatak (Shelton, Conn./Shelton), Andrew Calabria (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North), Michael Morra (Farmingdale, N.Y./Plainedge), Damiano Ferrara (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown), Justin DeMonte (Rocky Point, N.Y./Rocky Point), Greg Gibbons (North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham), James Distefano (Clarkstown, N.Y./Clarkstown South), Vassell, Eddie Montemurro (Kings Park, N.Y./Binghamton University), Gabe DeRoché (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin), Cristian Castles (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage), Brody Caskenette (Owen Sound, Ontario/Owen Sound District Secondary School), Justin Gerdvil (East Northport, N.Y./Northport) and Jason Kuehner (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) for their contributions to the program.
The Mavericks (12-1, 6-0 ECC) have won eight games in a row and have secured their fifth straight ECC Regular Season Championship. The Saints (2-14, 1-5 ECC) see their season end on a two-game losing streak. The 27 goals scored ties the school record for goals in a game previously set against Roberts Wesleyan on April 23, 2022. Mercy has secured the top seed in next week's ECC Championship and will host No. 4 seed Molloy in a Semifinal matchup on Wednesday, May 1st at 3 p.m.
Mercy was led by Smith who had a game-high five goals, 10 assists and 15 points. He breaks the previous record of 14 points set by current assistant coach Dominic Scorcia who set the record against Lake Erie on March 1, 2020. The 15 points ties for the most recorded by a Division II player this season and the 10 assists is the most by a Division II player this season. Heyder had four goals and Gibbons had five assists. Calabria, junior Ian Votta (Levittown, N.Y./NJIT) and freshman Christopher Bergersen (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) all had two goals and Morra had a goal, an assist, three caused turnovers and seven ground balls. DeMonte had a goal and three assists and Caskenette had a goal and an assist. Kuehner had a goal, an assist, went 12-of-16 on faceoffs and had nine ground balls. Junior Ryan Resnick (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) had a goal and seven ground balls and sophomore Kenneth Summit (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Limestone University) had a goal and went 7-of-11 on faceoffs. Freshmen Colin Orsino (Brookhaven, N.Y./Bellport) and Dillon Osorio (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Saint Anthony's), Montemurro and sophomores Ryken Kutner (Riverhead, N.Y./Riverhead) and Jack Agres (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) also scored. Junior Shane Roche (Milford, Pa./Onondaga CC) had a goal and an assist and sophomores Devon Duchnowski (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) and Joe Sorok (Merrick, N.Y./Stanford H. Calhoun) each added an assist. DeRoché had two caused turnovers and four ground balls and freshman Cameron Dorfman (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) made a game-high 12 saves in the first 34:28 of the game to earn the win. Vassell made a career-high eight saves in the final 25:32 of action.
D'Youville was led by Brady Ruffalo who had a team-high five points on four goals and an assist. William Nichols made five saves in the first 25:21 minutes of action to take the loss.
Bergersen gave the Mavericks a 1-0 lead at the 13:23 mark of the first quarter before Kuehner scored a man-up goal to make it 2-0 less than two minutes into the game. Back-to-back goals from Calabria made it 4-0 with 12:15 remaining in the quarter. Heyder and Bergersen each found the back of the net to increase the Mercy lead to 6-0 with 10:00 left in the quarter. Heyder continued the onslaught with two more goals to give the Mavericks an 8-0 lead at the 6:34 mark. Caskenette and Heyder tacked on two more goals to give Mercy a 10-0 lead with 3:14 left in the quarter. A Ruffalo goal with 1:58 on the clock made it 10-1. Votta scored the final goal of the quarter with 19 seconds left, off a Smith assist, to give Mercy an 11-1 lead after the first quarter.
Back-to-back goals from Smith in the first minute of play of the second quarter gave Mercy a 13-1 lead. Two goals from D'Youville made it 13-3 with 4:17 left in the quarter. Votta, Smith and Montemurro ended the quarter with goals to give Mercy a 16-3 lead at halftime.
Ruffalo scored the first goal of the third quarter to make it 16-4. Orsino, Kutner, Roche and Morra added four goals in a row to give Mercy a 20-4 lead with 10:32 left in the quarter. Back-to-back Saints goals made it 20-6 at the 7:35 mark. Osorio, Agres and DeMonte scored three unanswered goals to give Mercy a 23-6 lead. A late Ruffalo goal made it 23-7 after the third quarter.
Two goals from Smith and a goal from Resnick made it 26-7 with 6:03 left. Stefano Evan made it 26-8 at the 5:07 mark before Summit won the ensuing faceoff and scored to give Mercy a 27-8 lead. Vassell made two more saves in the final five minutes of play to keep the Saints from scoring again and the Mavericks earned the 27-8 Senior Day win.
Mercy held a 53-35 edge in shots, a 49-31 edge in ground balls and went 24-of-39 on faceoffs.
Head Coach Ryan MacSpadyen and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, May 1st when they host Molloy in an ECC Championship Semifinal at 3 p.m.
