Old Westbury, N.Y. - The NYIT lacrosse program used 12 goals in the first three quarters and solid defense en route to a 13-7 defeat of No. 3 Dowling College Wednesday afternoon. The team will take their second consecutive trip to the East Coast Conference championship to face No. 1 LIU Post in a rematch of last season's title game. The Golden Lions fall to 10-5 as the Bears improve to 13-3 overall.
ECC All-Conference Second Team selection Will Kistinger led the way on offense this afternoon with four goals as Vincent Ferraro was close beehind with a hat trick of his own. ECC First Team honorees each recorded two goals apiece and combined for four assists. Matt Chanenchuk finished the contest with a team-best six ground balls, three assists and one goal. In the face off X, Nick Sidaras went 6-for-9 and in goal, ECC goalkeeper of the year stopped nine shots.
The Bears got off to a hot start with four goals two minutes apart from each other, bookended with goals from Kistinger to lead 4-0 with seven minutes to play. Dowling snuck one past Selzter at the 3:31 mark to keep from the first quarter shutout. In the second quarter, the teams traded goals as Sean Cleary received a pass from Chanenchuk at 7:18 to double the visitors score. NYIT was able to maintain that lead as the half came to a close as the Shawn Murphy to Kistinger combo made it an 8-4 game.
Dowling was held to three goals in the second half from the host defense as the team accounted for five turnovers in the game. Ferraro scored two in the thrid quarter alone to extend the lead for the team to six, with one frame left to play. In the last fifteen minutes, each team was limited to a single goal but the margin was too great for the Golden Lions to overcome.
NYIT, who was announced as No. 3 in the north region will play at top-seeded LIU Post on Saturday, May 7 in the championship at 3:00 p.m.
Provided by the NYIT Sports Information Department.
