Brookville, N.Y. – No. 5 LIU Post men's
lacrosse put up a valiant comeback effort, scoring two goals in the
final minute and a half of regulation to force overtime, but the
Pioneers came up just short and dropped a heartbreaking 9-8
decision to No. 3 Le Moyne College on Saturday afternoon in NCAA
first round action.
In a challenging afternoon contest that was delayed for quite some
time due to lightning in the area, the Pioneers came up just short
as the finish their season at 11-3. Le Moyne advances to next
week's NCAA semifinal against Adelphi, a 12-6 winner over NYIT.
The Dolphins scored first in the contest as Mike Jenkins found the
back of the net at 12:17. Sophomore Connor Drost (Wading
River, N.Y.) tied it up on an assist from Ryan Slane (North
Babylon, N.Y.) at 9:08. Le Moyne pulled ahead with a goal at
5:56 and led 2-1 after the first quarter.
Two Pioneer goals accounted for the second quarter scoring as Slane
put one in at 11:01, and freshman Matty Beccaris (North Babylon,
N.Y.) gave the Pioneers a 3-2 edge heading into halftime as he
scored with 56 seconds left.
After a low scoring first half of the game, both teams waited out
the lightning delay for over an hour in their locker rooms, but it
didn't show as they both took the field and began lighting up the
scoreboard in the third and fourth quarters.
Le Moyne came out and tied it up right away at 13:03, but LIU Post
grabbed the lead back as Drost assisted on Chris Ruhlig's (Islip
Terrace, N.Y.) bullet into the net at 10:42. Le Moyne seized
control of the contest with three straight goals to close out the
third, taking a 6-4 lead.
The Pioneers' Anthony Berardis (Mahopac, N.Y.) scored at 14:18 to
make it a one-goal game, but Le Moyne bumped the lead back to two
as Kam Bumpus scored at 7:21. Drost rifled in a shot at 5:48
to make it 7-6, but Le Moyne responded again with Alec Westerhoff's
goal at 4:24, making it an 8-6 Dolphin lead.
With only 1:34 remaining, facing a two-goal deficit, the Pioneers
rallied as Berardis lazered in a goal to make it 8-7. Junior
Brandon Bertone (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) won the faceoff and with only 31
seconds to play, Beccaris took the ball behind the net and found a
cutting Drost, who put it in the back of the net to tie things up
at eight apiece.
However, the Dolphins won a hard fought faceoff to open up the
four-minute sudden death overtime period, and Andrew Chadderdon's
shot at 2:58 slid just inside the upper right post to give the
Dolphins the win.
Drost led the Pioneers with three goals and one assist, while
Berardis scored two and both Beccaris and Slane added one goal and
one assist apiece.
Senior Tim Bradley (Wantagh, N.Y.) made 12 saves in 61:02 minutes
of action.
Le Moyne was led by two goals apiece from Kelly and
Westerhoff. Goalkeeper Jeff White stopped six shots between
the pipes.
Provided by the LIU Post Sports Information Department.
