DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 3, 2025) – The No. 17 Mercy University men's lacrosse team plays at ECC foe University of the District of Columbia on Saturday, April 5th at 2 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Saturday, April 5th 2 p.m.
Records: #17 Mercy (5-3, 2-0 ECC), District of Columbia (0-8, 0-2 ECC)
Location: Washington, D.C.
Last Meeting vs. Dist. Columbia
Mercy earned a 22-2 win over UDC on March 22, 2024.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy entered the 2025 season ranked No. 5 nationally in the USA Lacrosse Magazine Poll and No. 11 nationally in the USILA Poll. The Mavericks were picked first in the ECC Preseason after going 14-2 last season, winning their fifth straight ECC Championship and qualifying for their fifth straight NCAA Tournament. Mercy looks to make the ECC Tournament for the 10th straight season. Third-year Head Coach Ryan MacSpadyen and the Mavericks return three All-ECC performers from last year's team.
Leading the returners is junior Devon Duchnowski who has been named Preseason Second Team All-American by USA Lacrosse Magazine and Inside Lacrosse. Duchnowski was named First Team All-ECC and USILA All-Region Honorable Mention last season after finishing with 23 goals, eight assists and 31 points. Also returning is sophomore Cameron Dorfman who was named ECC Goalkeeper and Rookie of the Year and First Team All-ECC after going 10-2 in goal with 132 saves, a .569 save percentage and 8.86 goals-against average. Dorfman was named Preseason All-American Honorable Mention by USA Lacrosse Magazine. Senior Owen Stephenson also returns after being named Second Team All-ECC in 2024. Stephenson had 16 caused turnovers and 41 ground balls.
Sophomore Christopher Bergersen returns after a strong freshman campaign in which he had 22 goals and 32 points. Senior Ryan Smith is back after recording 16 goals and 15 assists and junior AJ Barone is back after recording six goals and five assists. Also returning are seniors Ian Votta and Shane Roche, juniors Ryken Kutner, Connor Abrahall and Jack Agres and sophomores Colin Orsino, Dillon Osorio and Justin Ortiz.
Returning on defense is junior Danny Fitzgerald who had nine caused turnovers and 17 ground balls last season. Junior Michael Corbo returns after starting all 16 games last season with 27 ground balls and four caused turnovers and sophomore Jake Norton is back after posting 17 ground balls and four caused turnovers. Also returning are juniors Sean Higgins and Joe Sorok and sophomore Jason Kassis. Also, returning in goal is junior Peter Murphy who went 4-0 in goal last season with 41 saves in four starts.
Leading the returners in the faceoff x is junior Kenneth Summit who went 25-of-39 on faceoffs last year with seven ground balls. Senior Ryan Resnick also returns after going 15-of-26 on faceoffs with 16 ground balls.
MacSpadyen will also look to a strong freshman and transfer class to help lead the Mavericks back to the NCAA Tournament. Mercy will look to freshmen Charles Sorbello, Gavin Lamere, Jackson Redmond, Christopher De Giorgio, Kyle Freyer, Michael Mitrano, Benjamin Salamone, Carter Heuer, Ryan Strzalkowski, Nicholas Filocamo, Cole Hunsberger and Tomas Carr to make immediate contributions. Sorbello was a team captain and two-time Section Champion at West Genesee High School, Lamere was named All-County twice at Herricks High School, Freyer was tabbed Honorable Mention once at Fayetteville-Manlius High School, Mitrano was a three-time All-County honoree at Hilton High School, Strzalkowski was a four-year varsity player at Archbishop Stepinac, and Filocamo was named All-County three times at Island Trees High School.
Leading the transfers for the Mavericks is graduate student Jimmy Osorio who joins Mercy from Newberry College. Osorio was named Third Team All-SAC at Newberry and had 110 points. Aidan Babnik joins the Mavericks from Division I Long Island University.
Mercy is coming off a 16-9 win over Roberts Wesleyan on Saturday. The Mavericks were led by graduate student Jimmy Osorio who had a game-high seven points. The Mavericks have been led by senior Ryan Smith who has 25 points on 13 goals and a team-high 12 assists. Graduate student Jimmy Osorio has a team-high 28 goals to go along with a team-high 37 points with 12 ground balls. Freshman Cole Hunsberger is tied for second on the team with 25 points by way of 16 goals and nine assists. Sophomore Christopher Bergersen has 10 goals and 10 assists and graduate student Aidan Babnik has 13 goals and five assists. Junior AJ Barone has five goals and 10 assists. Sophomore Jake Norton has 24 ground balls and five caused turnovers with five assists and freshman Gavin Lamere has a team-high 12 caused turnovers with 17 ground balls. Senior Owen Stephenson has 11 caused turnovers with 27 ground balls and a goal and an assist. Junior Kenneth Summit is 86-of-142 (.606) on faceoffs with a team-high 45 ground balls and senior Ryan Resnick is 35-of-64 (.547) on faceoffs with 17 ground balls. Sophomore Cameron Dorfman is 5-3 in goal with a team-high 66 saves, a .478 save percentage and 11.13 goals-against average. Junior Peter Murphy has 22 saves with a .759 save percentage in 83 minutes.
Stephenson was named to the USILA D2 Team of the Week on Wednesday. Osorio, Dorfman and Hunsberger were named to the ECC Honor Roll on Monday. Summit was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week last week and Babnik and Smith were tabbed to the Honor Roll. Osorio and Babnik were named to the ECC Honor Roll on March 17th. Dorfman was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on March 10th and Osorio and Duchnowski were tabbed to the Honor Roll. Stephenson, Bergersen and Dorfman were named to the ECC Honor Roll on March 3rd. Lamere was named to the USILA D2 Team of the Week on February 27th. Smith was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week on February 24th, Lamere was named Defensive Player of the Week and Hunsberger was tabbed to the Honor Roll. Hunsberger was named ECC Rookie of the Week on February 17th and graduate student Jimmy Osorio, junior Kenneth Summit, senior Ryan Smith and sophomore Jake Norton were named to the ECC Honor Roll.
Mercy is ranked No. 8 nationally in the USA Lacrosse Magazine Poll and No. 17 in the USILA Poll. Mercy is 8-1 all-time against UDC and have won the last eight meetings. Mercy has won 37 consecutive games against ECC competition, with the last loss coming in the 2018 ECC Championship Tournament Final.
Scouting the Firebirds
UDC is coming off a 27-2 loss to Frostburg State on March 26th. The Firebirds were picked seventh in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 1-11 last season. UDC is led by Julian Schemm who has a team-high 13 points on eight goals and five assists. Dylan Donaldson has 11 points on seven goals and four assists and Maxwell Hansberry has a team-high nine goals. Patrick Nyarko has a team-high 32 ground balls and a team-high-tying 16 caused turnovers. Aidan O'Brien also has a team-high 16 caused turnovers and Najuane Phillpotts is 35-of-102 on faceoffs with 27 ground balls. Israel Amajioyi is 0-8 in goal with 118 saves, a .432 save percentage and 19.38 goals-against average.
Next Game
Mercy resumes action on Saturday, April 12th when they host Frostburg State at 12 p.m.
