No. 3 Mercyhurst Upends No. 1 Men's Lacrosse In NCAA Semifinal, 14-4
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (May 21, 2011) – The No. 3 Mercyhurst College Lakers advanced to the NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Championship game with a 14-4 win over No. 1 C.W. Post Saturday afternoon in the semifinal round played on Hickox Field.
Mercyhurst improves to 13-2 overall and will face the winner of Limestone/Adelphi next Sunday at M & T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. C.W. Post ends its season with a 16-2 overall mark.
The loss marks the first time the Pioneers have lost to the Lakers since they dealt an 8-1 loss during the 2008 season. It will also be the first time C.W. Post will miss the championship final since 2009.
Mercyhurst wasted no time and put up a 3-0 lead with 9:43 to play. The Pioneers scored their first goal with a man up goal from junior attacker Eddie Plompen (West Islip, N.Y.) at 8:31.
The Lakers scored just over a minute later when Brady Haseltine fired a shot into the nylon on a pass from Andy Winslow to boost the lead to 4-1.
The Pioneers were able to close the gap with goals from senior attacker Nick Coric (Walnut Creek, Calif.) and junior midfielder Keith Rodriguez (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) before the end of the half to trail 4-3.
The second half belonged almost entirely to Mercyhurst, who maintained a heavy amount of time on possession and outscored C.W. Post by a 10-1 count.
Kevin Coholan led the offense with three goals in the second half to finish with four in the game. Haseltine also had four tallies on the day.
Plompen led the Pioneers with a pair of goals while sophomore attacker Justin Patterson (Corning, N.Y.) had two assists.