FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 7, 2016
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Senior attackman Logan Thomas scored a career high-tying five goals to lead the second-ranked and top-seeded Le Moyne College men's lacrosse team to its 12th Northeast-10 Conference Championship with an 8-6 victory over third-ranked and second-seeded Merrimack College on Sunday afternoon at Ted Grant Field.
The Dolphins, who have won their first 17 games for the third time in the program's history (2006, 2012), now await their seeding in the NCAA Championships. The eight-team field will be announced on NCAA.com tonight at 7:30 p.m.
The teams went back and forth over the opening 32 and one-half minutes of action. Merrimack got the scoring started off the opening faceoff as long-stick midfielder Scott Corcoran scooped up the ball near midfield and raced in to score his ninth goal of the year just 18 seconds into the game. Following 10 minutes of scoreless action, Thomas evened the score at one apiece with his 38th goal of the year. Merrimack answered right back as Max Allen found the back of the net 1:25 later.
The Dolphins tied the score for the second time 1:15 into the second quarter as all-conference junior midfielder Brian Rogers tallied his 33rd goal of the year from the right alley off a pass from all-conference graduate student midfielder Matt Taylor. Merrimack regained the lead with 11:22 to go in the half on Ryan Poirier's 24th goal of the season. Thomas pulled the Dolphins even again with 4:33 left in the half after collecting a pass from all-conference senior attackman Mike Jenkins.
Le Moyne took its first lead of the game 1:04 into the third quarter as Thomas dunked home a feed from sophomore midfielder Bailey Wilkinson. Allen responded 71 seconds late with his 45th goal of the year to tie the score for the final time.
Thomas gave the Dolphins the lead for good at the 9:31 mark as he scored off a transition pass from senior defensive midfielder Kyle DeAngelis after a Merrimack turnover at midfield. Senior midfielder Nick Kline, who was named the Northeast-10 Championship Most Valuable Player, put the Dolphins up by two with a transition goal off a pass from Jenkins. Thomas pushed the lead to three with his 42nd goal of the year with 6:20 left in the third quarter.
Merrimack took advantage of a Le Moyne penalty to pull within 7-5 with 9:45 left in the game as Allen registered his third goal of the day after taking a pass from Brendan Donnelly.
The Dolphins got the goal back as freshman attackman Jack Vajda finished off a pass from freshman midfielder Dan Entenmann in a 30-second timer-on situation with 6:44 left.
Jack Trask got the Warriors within 8-6 with 3:29 to play, but Merrimack was unable to get off another shot the remainder of the game.
Redshirt senior goalkeeper Alex Krawec registered seven saves, including four in the second quarter, to earn his 17th victory of the season. He is just the third goalkeeper in program's history to record 17 wins in a season. Sam Ventresca posted eight saves, including four in the first quarter, in the loss for the Warriors.
2016 Northeast-10 Conference Men's Lacrosse All Championship Team
Joe Giardina, Adelphi
Kyle DeAngelis, Le Moyne
Alex Krawec, Le Moyne
Nick Kline, Le Moyne
Max Allen, Merrimack
Sam Ventresca, Merrimack
Cameron Joyce, Southern New Hampshire
Most Outstanding Player - Nick Kline, Le Moyne
Reporting for this release provided by the Le Moyne athletics communications staff
ABOUT THE NORTHEAST-10
The Northeast-10 Conference is an association of 15 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 6,500 student-athletes.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
