DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (May 3, 2025) – Despite a team-high three goals from freshman Cole Hunsberger (Waterloo, Ontario/Grand River Collegiate Institute), the No. 1 seeded Mercy University men's lacrosse team dropped a 11-10 overtime decision to No. 2 seeded Molloy University in the ECC Men's Lacrosse Championship Final on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Field.

The Mavericks (10-4) fail to win the ECC Championship for the first time since 2018, while the Lions (15-4) win their first ECC Championship and earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Mercy now awaits a possible NCAA Tournament berth with the selection show on Sunday, May 4th at 7:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.

Mercy was led by Hunsberger who had a team-high three goals. Graduate student Jimmy Osorio (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Newberry College) had two goals and an assist and senior Ryan Smith (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) had a goal and two assists. Graduate student Aidan Babnik (Carmel, N.Y./LIU) had a goal and an assist and senior Shane Roche (Milford, Pa./Onondaga CC) and junior Devon Duchnowski (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) also scored. Senior Owen Stephenson (Glen Rock, N.J./UDC) had a goal, with three caused turnovers and two ground balls and senior Ryan Resnick (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) went 12-of-18 on faceoffs with seven ground balls. Senior Ian Votta (Levittown, N.Y./NJIT) and sophomores Christopher Bergersen (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) and Justin Ortiz (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East) also had an assist and freshman Gavin Lamere (Plainview, N.Y./Herricks) had three caused turnovers and three ground balls. Sophomore Cameron Dorfman (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) made 11 saves to take the loss.

Molloy was led by Brian Green who had a game-high five goals. Christian Michaels made a game-high 13 saves to earn the win and was named the Championship's Most Outstanding Player.

The Lions scored the game's first three goals to take a 3-0 lead with 10:34 left in the first quarter. A Hunsberger goal from Osorio made it 3-1 at the 3:48 mark. A Jake Taylor goal gave Molloy a 4-1 lead after the first quarter.

Molloy scored the first two goals of the second quarter to take a 6-1 lead with 4:42 remaining in the half. Goals from Smith and Hunsberger made it 6-3 before a Green goal gave the Lions a 7-3 lead at halftime.  

Two goals from Osorio and goals from Stephenson and Babnik to open the third quarter tied the game at 7-7 with 3:11 left in the third quarter. Another Green goal at the 2:34 mark gave Molloy an 8-7 lead after three quarters.

A Hunsberger goal from Resnick to open the fourth quarter made it 8-8 with 14:42 left in regulation. A Luke Hickam man-up goal gave Molloy a 9-8 lead before a Duchnowski goal from Smith evened the score at 9-9 with 9:09 on the clock. Green gave the Lions a 10-9 advantage with 5:22 left in regulation. Roche tied the game at 10-10 with 13 seconds on the clock, off a Babnik assist. The game remained tied after regulation, sending the game into overtime.

Mercy won the opening faceoff of the overtime, but a turnover led to a Hickam goal just 18 seconds into the period, giving Molloy the 11-10 overtime win.

Molloy held a 41-35 edge in shots. Mercy held a 38-26 edge in ground balls and the Mavericks went 15-of-25 on faceoffs.