DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (May 9, 2024) – The No. 2 seeded Mercy University men's lacrosse team hosts No. 3 seeded Saint Anselm College in an NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Championship Quarterfinal matchup on Sunday, May 12th at 1 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Sunday, May 12th 1 p.m.
Records: #2 Mercy (14-1), #3 Saint Anselm (11-4)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. (Mercy Field)
Ticket Information
Purchase Tickets Here
$10– Adults
$5 – Students/Seniors
Children under 12 free
Last Meeting vs. Saint Anselm
Saint Anselm earned a 17-16 win over Mercy in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on May 10, 2023.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off an 18-5 win over Frostburg State on Saturday, winning their fifth straight ECC Championship. The Mavericks were led by senior Greg Gibbons who had a game-high 11 points on three goals and eight assists and was named the Championship's Most Outstanding Player. Mercy is making their fifth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and have advanced to the Quarterfinals for the fourth time in program history. The Mavericks are hosting a Quarterfinal matchup for the second time in program history with the last coming in 2022 when Mercy ended the season as National Runner-Up. Mercy is hosting Saint Anselm in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year and have won 10 games in a row entering the tournament. The Mavericks are 9-0 at home this year and look to advance to the National Semifinals for the second time in program history.
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 74 points on 27 goals and a team-high 47 assists with 31 ground balls. He has set a single-season school record for assists and recorded his 100th point against Frostburg State on May 4th. Senior Andrew Calabria has been tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll four times and has 65 points on 35 goals and 30 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 55 points on 39 goals with 16 assists. Freshman Christopher Bergersen was named ECC Rookie of the Week on April 22nd and has 22 goals and nine assists. Graduate student TJ Heyder has been named to the ECC Honor Roll four times and has a team-high 41 goals with 13 assists. Heyder recorded his 200th career point and 100th career ground ball in the ECC Final on May 4th. Sophomore Devon Duchnowski has recorded 23 goals and eight assists. Junior Ryan Smith was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week on April 29th and to the USILA Division II Team of the Week on May 1st and has 14 goals and 15 assists on the year.
Senior Damiano Ferrara was named to the ECC Honor Roll on April 22nd has seven goals, six assists and recorded his 100th career ground ball against Georgian Court on February 27th. Senior Tyler Pjatak has five goals, three assists, 54 ground balls and 28 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 54 ground balls and senior Owen Stephenson has 16 caused turnovers with 40 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 269-387 (.695) on faceoffs with a team-high 163 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 10-1 in goal with 126 saves, a .594 save percentage and 8.36 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 5-1 all-time against Saint Anselm with the lone loss coming in last year's NCAA Tournament.
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 Hawks
Saint Anselm is coming off a 16-6 win over No. 6 seed Bentley in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament on Wednesday. The Hawks are making their fourth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Saint Anselm is currently ranked No. 6 nationally in the latest USILA Poll. The Hawks placed 10 student-athletes on the NE10 All-Conference Teams. Graduate student Ryan Slattery was named Defensive Player of the Year, Fifth-year Craig Yannone was named Faceoff Specialist of the Year and senior Nick Larsen was named Co-Player of the Year. Larsen, Slattery, Yannone and senior Jake Davis were named First Team All-NE10 and fifth-year Jack Andrews and seniors Jonathan Holland and Noah Larsen were picked Second Team All-NE10. Sophomores Chris Claflin and Colby Goodchild were selected to the Third Team and freshman Jake Klepacki was an All-Rookie Team pick. The Hawks are led by Davis who has a team-high 50 points on 30 goals and 20 assists. Larsen has 23 goals and 24 assists and Noah Larsen has 24 goals and 10 assists. Colin Mulvey has 25 goals and seven assists and Chris Claflin has 20 goals and 12 assists. Yannone is 161-235 (.685) on faceoffs with a team-high 108 ground balls and Slattery has a team-high 22 caused turnovers with 29 ground balls. Finn Granara is 3-2 in goal with 44 saves, a .494 save percentage and 8.61 goals-against average and Anthony Kubik is 8-1 with 68 saves, a .493 save percentage and 9.42 goals-against average.
Next Game
The winner of Sunday's game will face the winner of No. 1 Adelphi/No. 4 Pace on Sunday, May 19th at the highest remaining seed in the National Semifinals.
