Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. – Powered by a career-high six goals from freshman Joe Poggio (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage), the No. 1 seeded Mercy College men's lacrosse team earned a 16-2 victory over No. 4 seeded Roberts Wesleyan College in an East Coast Conference (ECC) Men's Lacrosse Championship Semifinal matchup on Wednesday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (16-1) have won three games in a row and earn their second-ever appearance in the Championship Game, while the Redhawks (7-8) end their season with a loss. Mercy will face No. 2 seeded LIU Post in the ECC Championship Game on Saturday, May 4th at NYIT at 3 p.m.
Poggio set a new career high in goals and had a caused turnover and ground ball. Senior Bobby Chillianis (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) added five goals and freshman Jack Gibbons (North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) had two goals. Senior Luke Baron (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor), junior Robert LoRicco (Guilford, Conn./University at Albany) and freshman JoJo Janavey (Shrub Oak, N.Y./Lakeland) also scored. Sophomore Dominic Scorcia (Franklin Square, N.Y./Carey) had a game-high five assists and senior Ryan MacSpadyen (Toronto, Ontario/Seneca College) dished out three assists. Junior Tommy McPartland (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) added two assists and sophomore Christian Hernandez Farmingdale, N.Y./Dominican College) recorded an assist. Senior Max Littleton (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) and junior Bobby Norton (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) had a team-high-tying two caused turnovers and junior Antonio Rey(Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) went 7-of-17 on faceoffs. Senior Ryan Gibbons (Seaford, N.Y./Dowling College) made six saves in 43:54 minutes of action to earn the win.
Roberts Wesleyan was led by Kyle Dunham and Hunter Lemieux who both scored and Pat Hynes who made six saves to take the loss.
Mercy jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first quarter of play. Chillianis opened the contest with the first goal at the 14:09 mark to give the Mavericks an early lead. Poggio answered with his first of the day just over a minute later to put Mercy up 2-0. Poggio later made it 3-0 at the 9:36 mark off an assist from Scorcia before Chillianis netted two straight goals to make it 5-0 after one quarter.
Chillianis and Poggio made it 7-0 with back-to-back goals to start the second quarter and Gibbons tallied an unassisted goal to give Mercy an 8-0 lead at the 12:27 mark. Chillianis, Poggio and Baron concluded the quarter with goals to put the Mavericks up 11-0 at halftime.
Lemieux got the Redhawks on the board first in the third quarter with a man-up goal to make it 11-1. Gibbons and Janavey rallied back with back-to-back goals to make it 13-1 with 7:54 left in the third quarter. Poggio finished off the quarter with two more goals to give Mercy a commanding 15-1 lead after three quarters.
Dunham scored for Roberts Wesleyan to begin the fourth and LoRicco tallied a goal for the Mavericks to help put the finishing touches on the win.
Mercy held a 33-23 edge in shots and a 40-29 edge in ground balls. Roberts Wesleyan won 14-of-21 faceoffs.
Head Coach Jordan Levine and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, May 4th when they face LIU Post in the ECC Championship Game at 3 p.m. at NYIT.
Provided by the Mercy Sports Information Department.