DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (May 1, 2024) – Powered by a game-high seven goals from senior Andrew Calabria (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North), a game-high six assists from senior Greg Gibbons (North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) and a game-high 19 ground balls from senior Jason Kuehner (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown), the No. 1 seeded Mercy University men's lacrosse team earned a 19-11 win over No. 4 seeded Molloy University in an East Coast Conference (ECC) Men's Lacrosse Championship Semifinal matchup on Wednesday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (13-1) have won nine games in a row and defeat the Lions (8-10) for the 16th straight time. Mercy advances to the Final for the fifth straight time and will host No. 2 seeded Frostburg State University on Saturday, May 4th at 11 a.m.
Mercy was led by Calabria who had a career-high seven goals and eight points. Gibbons had a career-high six assists and seven points and Kuehner went 23-of-32 on faceoffs with 19 ground balls and a goal. Graduate student TJ Heyder (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) had four goals and two caused turnovers and freshman Christopher Bergersen (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) had four assists. Junior Ryan Smith (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) and senior Brody Caskenette (Owen Sound, Ontario/Owen Sound District Secondary School) each had two goals and sophomore Devon Duchnowski (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) and senior Damiano Ferrara (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) also scored. Sophomore AJ Barone (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) had an assist and senior Tyler Pjatak (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) had a game-high three caused turnovers. Sophomore Peter Murphy (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Port Jefferson) made 10 saves in goal to earn the win.
Molloy was led by Tommy Corcoron who had a team-high five points on four goals and one assist. Christian Michaels made a game-high 13 saves in 51:46 minutes of action to take the loss.
Ferrara gave the Mavericks a 1-0 lead at the 13:54 mark of the first quarter. Corcoron tied the game at 1-1 less than a minute later. Calabria netted his first goal of the game with 11:40 on the clock to give Mercy a 2-1 lead. A Brian Green man-up goal evened the game again at 2-2 with 7:06 left in the quarter. Heyder scored two goals and Calabria added another to give Mercy a 5-2 lead with 3:48 remaining in the quarter. Molloy recorded the final two goals of the quarter to cut the Mavericks lead to 5-4 after the first quarter.
A Dre Alexis goal at the 10:40 mark of the second quarter tied the game at 5-5. Caskenette gave Mercy the lead back at 6-5, following a Gibbons assist, with 6:52 left in the half. An Adam Hyman goal less than a minute later tied the game at 6-6. Mercy scored three goals in the final two minutes of the half to head into halftime with a 9-6 lead. Caskenette got the run started at the 1:58 mark and Gibbons and Heyder scored the final two goals of the half to give Mercy a halftime lead.
Two goals from Calabria in the first two minutes of the third quarter gave Mercy an 11-6 lead at the 13:26 mark. Heyder and Kuehner scored the next two goals to make it 13-6 before Calabria tacked on two more goals to put the Mavericks up, 15-6, with 8:21 left in the quarter. Duchnowski and Calabria goals capped off a stretch of 11 straight goals scored by Mercy, giving the Mavericks a 17-6 lead with 3:25 remaining in the quarter. The Lions ended the quarter with three straight goals to cut Mercy's lead to eight, 17-9, after three quarters.
Molloy scored the first goal of the fourth quarter to make it 17-10 with 11:57 left. Smith responded with back-to-back goals to give Mercy a 19-10 lead with 8:14 remaining. A late Corcoron goal was not enough, and Mercy earned the 19-11 Semifinal win.
Mercy held a 50-37 edge in shots, a 45-28 edge in ground balls and went 23-of-34 on faceoffs.
Head Coach Ryan MacSpadyen and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, May 4th when they host Frostburg State at 11 a.m.
