No. 5 Men's Lacrosse Uses Big Fourth Quarter to Down Mercy, 14-6
Box Score
DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (March 30, 2013) – Freshmen
Matty Beccaris (North Babylon, N.Y.) and
Ryan Slane (North Babylon, N.Y.) each scored four goals, and senior
Chris Ruhlig (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) added a hat trick as the fifth-ranked LIU Post men's lacrosse team took down Mercy College 14-6 on Saturday afternoon in East Coast Conference men's lacrosse action.
LIU Post improves to 7-1 on the season and 3-0 in conference action, while Mercy goes to 7-2 overall and 1-1 in ECC play.
Mercy look a 3-0 lead out of the gate as they tacked on quick goals against the Pioneers at 13:47, 11:39, and 10:00.
But LIU Post kicked its offense into gear as graduate attacker
Joe Costello (Minneapolis, Minn.) scored back-to-back unassisted markers at 6:13 and 2:22, and Ruhlig's first of the day with 58 seconds left in the first quarter to tie the game at three apice.
The Pioneers continued their impressive scoring with four goals in the second period, including two by Slane and one apiece by Ruhlig and Beccaris, to take a 7-3 lead into the halftime.
Mercy opened the second half with Kyle Stockton's goal at 10:13, and after a Slane goal at 6:13, the Mavericks made it a two-goal game with a pair of scores to close out the third quarter with LIU Post leading 8-6.
But it was all LIU Post in the fourth, as the Pioneers took over and scored six unanswered goals to take a commanding lead and keep the Mavericks shut out in the quarter. Beccaris scored three in the final stanza, while Slane, Ruhlig and
Anthony Berardis (Mahopac, N.Y.)each registered a tally.
Totals for the game saw Beccaris' five points lead all players, while Slane added four and Ruhlig scored two. Costello added two goals and sophomore
Connor Drost (Wading River, N.Y.) passed out three assists.
Junior
Dom Mantovani (West Babylon, N.Y.) and sophomore
Dan Jeannotte (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) split faceoff duties with Jeanotte winning 7-10 and Mantovani wining 6-12.
The Pioneers outshot the Mavericks 42-23 and won the ground ball battle 24-15. They were also successful on all 12 clear attempts and committed only six turnovers all game.
Senior goalkeeper
Tim Bradley (Wantagh, N.Y.) made five saves as he earned his sixth win of the season in goal. Mercy counterpart A.J. Pellati stopped 11 shots as Mike Marzocca notched a hat trick to lead the Mavericks.
Next up for the Pioneers is a date with Dominican College on the road on Saturday, April 6 starting at 1 p.m.