Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. – Despite a career-high-tying five goals from junior Andrew Calabria (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North), the No. 3 seeded Mercy College men's lacrosse team dropped a hard-fought 17-16 decision to No. 6 seeded Saint Anselm College in an NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Championship First Round matchup on Wednesday afternoon at Mercy Field.
The Mavericks (14-4) see their season end in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season and lose in the First Round for the first time. The Hawks (10-4) defeat Mercy for the first time and advance to Sunday's Quarterfinal where they play will at Mercyhurst at 1 p.m.
Calabria had a team-high five goals and senior Brady Kearnan (Courtice, Ontario/Newberry College) had three goals and an assist. Graduate student Jack Gibbons (North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) had two goals and two assists with six ground balls and graduate student Thomas Connors (Bellmore, N.Y./DeSales University) and junior Greg Gibbons (North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) both had a goal and an assist. Junior Jason Kuehner (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) had a goal and an assist and went 15-of-25 on faceoffs with five ground balls. Senior TJ Heyder (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y./Comsewogue) and juniors Damiano Ferrara (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) and Brody Caskenette (Owen Sound, Ontario/Owen Sound District Secondary School) also scored. Graduate student Jack Kipnes (Wantagh, N.Y./MacArthur) had two caused turnovers and three ground balls and graduate student Tommy Umano (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) made eight saves to take the loss.
Saint Anselm was led by Jack Andrews who had a game-high seven goals. Anthony Kubik made a game-high 12 saves to earn the win.
The game remained scoreless until the 10:19 mark of the first quarter when Jack Gibbons scored a behind-the-back goal to make it 1-0. Will Andrews and Nick Larsen scored two straight goals to give the visitors a 2-1 lead with 8:40 left in the quarter. Heyder evened the score at 2-2 after scoring off an assist from Connors. Chris Claflin and Noah Larsen scored two straight goals to give the Hawks their largest lead of the game, 4-2, with four minutes left in the quarter. After a Mercy timeout, Calabria scored back-to-back goals to tie the game at 4-4 after one quarter.
The Hawks regained the lead at the 12:11 mark of the second quarter on a Noah Larsen goal. Jack Gibbons and Kearnan rattled off back-to-back goals to give Mercy a 6-5 lead with 9:26 left in the half. Jack Andrews tied the game at 6-6 following a man-up goal. Connors made it 7-6 with 8:15 remaining in the half before Jack Andrews scored another man-up goal to even the score at 7-7. Calabria and Joe Lombardi traded goals to bring the score to 8-8 at halftime.
Kearnan, Greg Gibbons and Caskenette scored the first three goals of the third quarter to give Mercy their largest lead of the game at 11-8 with 8:55 left in the quarter. Will Andrews, Jack Andrews and Jack Robinson answered with three straight goals to tie the game at 11-11 after three quarters.
Jack Andrews gave the Hawks a 12-11 lead at the 13:47 mark of the fourth quarter. Two unanswered goals from Calabria and Kuehner gave Mercy the lead back at 13-12 with 13 minutes left. Lombardi and Jack Andrews netted two straight goals to give the visitors a 14-13 lead with 11:24 remaining. Calabria tied the game again at 14-14 and Kearnan gave the Mavericks a 15-14 lead with 7:55 on the clock. Lombardi and Jack Andrews scored again to give Saint Anselm a 16-15 lead with 5:58 left in the game. Kuehner won the ensuing faceoff and found Ferrara who found the back the net to tie the game at 16-16 with five minutes left. The score remained 16-16 until the 1:47 mark when Jack Andrews found the back of the net again from Noah Larsen to give the Hawks a 17-16 lead. Saint Anselm won the ensuing faceoff and ran time off the clock before a caused turnover gave the Mavericks one last possession. A last second by freshman Devon Duchnowski (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) went wide, giving the Hawks the 17-16 win.
Saint Anselm held a 48-42 edge in shots. Mercy held a 36-32 edge in ground balls and went 21-of-37 on faceoffs.
Provided by the Mercy Sports Information Department.
