DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 30, 2025) – Powered by a game-high four goals and five points from graduate student Aidan Babnik (Carmel, N.Y./LIU) and a game-high 13 saves from sophomore Cameron Dorfman (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip), the No. 1 seeded Mercy University men's lacrosse team earned an 11-8 win over No. 4 seeded Roberts Wesleyan University in an ECC Men's Lacrosse Championship Semifinal on Wednesday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (10-3) have won seven games in a row and defeat the Redhawks (6-8) for the second time this season. Mercy advances to Saturday's Final for the sixth straight time. The Mavericks will host No. 2 seed Molloy University in the Final on Saturday, May 3rd at a time to be announced.
Mercy was led by Babnik who had four goals and an assist. Graduate student Jimmy Osorio (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Newberry College) had three goals and senior Ryan Smith (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) had two goals and an assist. Sophomore Christopher Bergersen (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) had a goal and an assist and freshman Cole Hunsberger (Waterloo, Ontario/Grand River Collegiate Institute) had a goal. Junior Devon Duchnowski (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) had a game-high two assists and senior Shane Roche (Milford, Pa./Onondaga CC) and junior AJ Barone (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) also had an assist. Senior Owen Stephenson (Glen Rock, N.J./UDC) had three ground balls and two caused turnovers and senior Ryan Resnick (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) went 6-of-11 on faceoffs with one ground ball. Dorfman made a game-high 13 saves to earn the win and had three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Roberts Wesleyan was led by Jacob Zimmerman, Justin Skelly and Curtis Denison who all had a team-high two goals. Garrett Kayser made 10 saves to take the loss.
A Babnik goal less than a minute into the game gave Mercy a 1-0 lead. A Ryan Brown goal at the 7:09 mark of the first quarter tied the game at 1-1. Goals from Babnik, Hunsberger and Smith to end the quarter gave Mercy a 4-1 lead after the first quarter.
A Smith man-up goal under 30 seconds into the second quarter gave Mercy a 5-1 lead. Osorio later put the Mavericks up, 6-1, with 10:58 remaining in the half. A Skelly goal later made it 6-2 before a Bergersen goal at the 4:57 mark gave the Mavericks a 7-2 lead. A late Zimmerman goal made it 7-3 at halftime in favor of Mercy.
The Redhawks scored the first three goals of the third quarter to make it 7-6 at the 1:54 mark. A Babnik goal from Duchnowski gave Mercy an 8-6 lead after three quarters.
Roberts Wesleyan recorded the first two goals of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 8-8. Mercy answered with three straight goals to take an 11-8 lead with 6:46 left. Babnik made it 9-8 and Osorio netted back-to-back goals to give the Mavericks a three-goal lead. The Mercy defense held the Redhawks scoreless for the final 10:25 to come away with 11-8 win.
Shots were tied at 40-40, ground balls were tied at 28-28 and Mercy went 10-of-21 on faceoffs.
Head Coach Ryan MacSpadyen and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, May 3rd when they host Molloy in the ECC Championship Final.
