NEWBURGH, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College men's lacrosse team (1-2) dropped a closely contested matchup with Gwynedd Mercy University (4-0) by a score of 13-9 Saturday afternoon at Kaplan Field.
Despite shouldering the loss and falling to 1-2 on the season, freshman goalkeeper
Christopher Doerr (Pleasantville, N.Y.) turned in an impressive effort for the Knights, setting a
new program single-game record with 27 saves on the afternoon. Doerr was pummeled with 40 shots on goal on Saturday, but made many spectacular saves, including multiple stops with his facemask.
The game was highly competitive in the early goings, as the Griffins rallied in the second quarter to take a 6-5 lead into halftime. Gwynedd Mercy outscored the Knights, 5-2, in the third quarter, which proved to be the difference in a four-goal win for the Griffins.
The Griffins got on the board first in a defensive first quarter, as Alfonso Manzo scored at the 4:15 mark to put the visitors up, 1-0. The Knights responded quickly, as sophomore attackman
Joseph Rizzotti (East Meadow, N.Y.) took advantage of an extra-man opportunity to tie the game. Freshman attackman
Tristan Earle (Milford, Pa.) then found paydirt with 1:34 left in the first quarter to give the Knights a 2-1 lead.
Dillon Cave tied the game 43 seconds into the second quarter for the Griffins. The Knights then went on a three-goal run, the first coming from freshman midfielder
Dylan De Meo (Franklin Square, N.Y.). Earle and Rizzotti followed in the next three minutes with the second goal of the game for each of them to give the Knights a 4-2 advantage. Gwynedd Mercy locked down on defense for the final nine minutes of the half, and tallied four straight goals to close out the second quarter with a 6-5 lead.
Tony McCraw scored to open the third and give the Griffins a two-goal edge. The Knights then had numerous penalties that cost them, but not until after senior midfielder
David Hobbs (Baldwin, N.Y.) scored a man-down goal to get the Knights back within one. The Griffins then took advantage of the extra-man opportunity, scoring back-to-back man-up goals to improve their lead to 9-6. Blase Cesarone scored his second and third goals of the game to give the away team an 11-6 advantage, but senior midfielder
Jake Robison (Franklin Square, N.Y.) scored the last goal of the third to get the Knights back within four.
Freshman attackman
Kenneth Gallagher (Northport, N.Y.) cut the deficit to three with his fifth goal of the season at the 12:23 mark of the fourth quarter. The goal was neutralized 57 seconds later when Tommy Belmont scored for the Griffins to put them back up by four. After seven quiet minutes, Cesarone hit the back of the net for a fourth time to give Gwynedd Mercy a comfortable five-goal lead. Rizzotti scored a late man-up goal after Gwynedd Mercy's goalkeeper was tagged with a penalty, but it was too late to mount a comeback.
John Black earned the win for Gwynedd Mercy, making seven stops and allowed eight goals.
Tony McCraw had a game-high six points with three goals and three assists. Blase Cesarone led all scorers with four goals on the afternoon. Marc Bushong scooped up an impressive 11 ground balls in the Griffins' win, while McCraw led with three caused turnovers and went 7-for-7 on faceoffs.
Rizzotti tallied a hat trick for the Knights, and added an assist for a four-point afternoon. Five Knights each recorded two points in the loss. Earle scored two goals, while De Meo, Robison, Gallagher and Hobbs each scored once and dished out one assist. Doerr and De Meo matched with six ground balls.
The Griffins were much more aggressive offensively, outshooting the Knights, 55-26. They also held a 19-5 advantage in faceoffs, and picked up 48 ground balls compared to just 29 for the Knights. Gwynedd Mercy was good on 15-of-18 clear attempts, while the Knights completed 20-of-28.
The Knights will next play on Wednesday, March 11, against local rival Bard College. The game is currently scheduled for a 6 p.m. start at Bard, but may be switched to a home game at Kaplan Field that evening. Check back early this week on MSMCKnights.com for updates.
Follow the Knights on Twitter at
@MSMCKnights and the men's lacrosse team at
@MSMCLacrosse
