No. 7 Men's Lacrosse Stuns No. 3 Le Moyne in NCAA First Round, 9-3

5/10/2014 3:59:00 PM

Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (May 10, 2014) - On Saturday, the LIU Post men's lacrosse team outscored Le Moyne 6-0 in the second half, en route to a 9-3 victory in an NCAA Division II Championship quarterfinal at Ted Grant Field in Syracuse, N.Y.

The win not only avenged a 9-8 overtime loss to the Dolphins (13-3) in last year's postseason tournament, it advanced the Pioneers to next Sunday's national semifinal (May 18). LIU Post (10-5) will face either Adelphi or Dowling for the right to play in the national championship game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md.

During the latter 30 minutes of action, the green and gold's six-goal run to glory was keyed by a crucial five-goal performance in the third quarter. Tied 3-3 at halftime, sophomore midfielder Anthony Berardis (Mahopac, N.Y.) gave the visitors the lead for good, via an even-strength marker 4:50 into the period. Graduate attackman/midfielder Joe Costello (Minneapolis, Minn.) and sophomore attackman Matty Beccaris (North Babylon, N.Y.) followed with two goals apiece to widen LIU Post's advantage to 8-3.

Not to be outdone, the Pioneers' defensive unit limited the opposition to only three shots on net in the third quarter, all of which were turned aside by graduate goalie T.J. DiCarlo (Farmingdale, N.Y.), who made a game-high 14 saves. Additionally, senior midfielder Dom Mantovani (West Babylon, N.Y.) won four of the period's six faceoffs to aid the green and gold in maintaining possession of the ball.

In the fourth quarter, Costello capped the scoring for the contest, when he beat Le Moyne junior goalie Pat Brothers (Burlington, Mass.) on an unassisted effort at the 9:42 mark. Costello led all goal-scorers on the day with four tallies. Beccaris chipped in three goals and an assist. Berardis and junior attackman Chris Caiazza (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) each found the back of the cage once.

Mantovani was superb on faceoffs, winning well over 50.0 percent of them (10-of-16). Meanwhile, on clears, LIU Post was a near-perfect 13-of-14 (92.8 percent).

More information will be made available on the Pioneers' next opponent once the Adelphi/Dowling game goes final. For the full bracket of the 2014 NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Championship, please click here.