DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (May 2, 2024) – The No. 1 seeded Mercy University men's lacrosse team hosts No. 2 seeded Frostburg State University in the ECC Men's Lacrosse Championship Final on Saturday, May 4th at 11 a.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Saturday, May 4th 11 a.m.
Records: #1 Mercy (13-1, 6-0 ECC), #2 Frostburg State (13-3, 5-1 ECC)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Ticket Information
Purchase Tickets Here
$8 – Adults
$5 – Child/Senior/Student
Last Meeting vs. Frostburg State
Mercy earned a 16-12 win at Frostburg State on April 13, 2024.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off a 19-11 win over No. 4 seed Molloy in the ECC Semifinals on Wednesday. The Mavericks were led by senior Andrew Calabria who had a career-high seven goals and eight points. Mercy earned the top seed in the Championship after going a perfect 6-0, winning their fifth straight ECC Regular Season Championship. Mercy has won 36 straight games against ECC competition with their last loss coming in the ECC Semifinals in 2018. The Mavericks are making their ninth straight appearance in the ECC Championship. Mercy looks to win their fifth straight ECC Tournament Championship. The Mavericks are facing Frostburg State in the Final for the third straight year. Mercy has won each of the previous two meetings at Mercy Field.
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 and April 8th. Gibbons has a team-high 63 points on 24 goals and a team-high 39 assists with 29 ground balls. Senior Andrew Calabria has been tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll four times and has 61 points on 33 goals and 28 assists. The senior recorded his 100th career point in the win over Bentley on February 23rd. Senior Brody Caskenette was named to the USILA D2 Team of the Week on April 24th and has 50 points on 35 goals with 15 assists. Freshman Christopher Bergersen was named ECC Rookie of the Week on April 22nd and has 21 goals and nine assists. Graduate student TJ Heyder has been named to the ECC Honor Roll four times and has a team-high 37 goals with 13 assists. Sophomore Devon Duchnowski has recorded 22 goals and six assists. Smith was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday and to the USILA Division II Team of the Week on Wednesday and has 12 goals and 15 assists on the year.
Senior Damiano Ferrara was named to the ECC Honor Roll on April 22nd has seven goals, five assists and recorded his 100th career ground ball against Georgian Court on February 27th. Senior Tyler Pjatak has five goals, three assists, 47 ground balls and 24 caused turnovers. Graduate student Justin Gerdvil has been named ECC Defensive Player of the Week three times and tabbed to the USILA D2 Team of the Week on March 5th and has a team-high 31 caused turnovers with 48 ground balls and senior Owen Stephenson has 16 caused turnovers with 37 ground balls. Gerdvil recorded his 200th career ground ball against Roberts Wesleyan on March 16th and his 100th career caused turnover against Frostburg State on April 13th.
Senior Jason Kuehner has been named ECC Offensive Player of the Week twice, has been tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll six times and was named to the USILA D2 Team of the Week on February 27th. He is 248-360 (.689) on faceoffs with a team-high 152 ground balls. Kuehner recorded his 500th career faceoff win against Mercyhurst on April 21st. Freshman Cameron Dorfman has been named ECC Defensive Player of the Week three times and Rookie of the Week five times. Dorfman is 9-1 in goal with 110 saves, a .576 save percentage and 8.72 goals-against average. Sophomore Peter Murphy was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on April 8th and is 4-0 in goal with 41 saves, a .471 save percentage and 11.50 goals-against average.
The Mavericks are ranked No. 5 nationally in the USILA poll and No. 5 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll. Mercy is ranked No. 3 in the latest North Region Regional Rankings released last week. The Mavericks are 5-0 all-time against Frostburg State.
Gerdvil was named ECC Defensive Player of the Year and Dorfman was tabbed Goalkeeper and Rookie of the Year as the All-Conference Teams were announced on Tuesday. Gerdvil, Dorfman, Gibbons, Calabria, Ferrara, Kuehner and Duchnowski were tabbed First Team All-Conference and Heyder, Stephenson and Pjatak were named Second Team All-Conference. MacSpadyen was named Coach of the Year.
Scouting the Bobcats
Frostburg State is coming off a 15-7 win over No. 3 seed Roberts Wesleyan in the ECC Semifinals on Wednesday. The Bobcats are making their third straight ECC Final appearance and are looking for their first ECC Championship. Frostburg State is currently ranked No. 15 nationally in the USILA Poll and is ranked seventh in the latest NCAA North Regional Rankings. The Bobcats are led by ECC Offensive Player of the Year Bubba Love who has a team-high 84 points on a team-high 49 goals with 35 assists. Austin Sipes has 41 goals, and a team-high 36 assists and Chase Buckwalter has 48 goals and 18 assists. Owen McCallum has netted 38 goals with 17 assists and Tyler Dooley has 37 points on 22 goals and 15 assists. Alex Walstrum is 114-171 (.667) on faceoffs with a team-high 68 ground balls and Gregg Dort Jr. is 90-149 (.604) on faceoffs with 48 ground balls. Seamus Kearney has a team-high 30 caused turnovers with 43 ground balls and Landon Bruce has 21 caused turnovers. Nate Jones is 13-3 in goal with 124 saves, a .490 save percentage and 9.21 goals-against average.
