MEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
Bentley and Le Moyne Advance to NE10 Championship Final
MANSFIELD, Mass. – In semifinal action of the 2023 Men's Lacrosse Northeast-10 Championship, No. 1 Le Moyne and No. 2 Bentley secured wins to advance to the championship round of the tournament of Wednesday evening.
Le Moyne started the semifinal round with a 8-4 victory over No. 5 Saint Anselm at home before No. 2 Bentley defeated No. 3 Adelphi 7-4. The title game will be played in Syracuse, N.Y. between No. 1 Le Moyne and No. 2 Bentley - the Falcons' first trip to the final game since '98, while it's the Dolphins' eighth trip in ten years.
No. 1 Le Moyne 8, No. 5 Saint Anselm 4 – Box Score
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Graduate student goalkeeper Matt Vavonese (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy/Canisius) recorded eight saves as the top-ranked Le Moyne College men's lacrosse team stifled 12th-ranked Saint Anselm College in an 8-4 win in the semifinals of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship on Wednesday afternoon at Ted Grant Field.
Le Moyne (15-0), which has seven wins over the Hawks in the last 725 days, tallied the only two goals of the first quarter. Junior midfielder Seth Benedict (Stanley, N.Y./Marcus Whitman) opened the scoring at the 11:17 mark with his 19th goal of the season. Following four empty possessions by each team, sophomore attackman Olin Stanat (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton), who made his first career start, tallied his third goal of the season with 3:10 left after receiving a pass from freshman midfielder Alec Constable (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield).
The teams traded goals in the third quarter. Junior midfielder Kyle Caves (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) pushed Le Moyne's lead back to three just 47 seconds into the period off a feed from graduate student attackman Kevin Sheehan (Camillus, N.Y./West Genesee). Just over one minute later, Brendan Crowley took advantage of a miscue by the Dolphins in front of the net on a clear attempt to record his fourth goal of the season. Sheehan countered 60 seconds later by collecting a loose ball on the crease after an initial shot was saved after dumping the ball into the net for his 17th goal of the campaign. Jack Andrews got the Hawks within two for the final time with 9:38 left by finishing off a pass from Will Andrews for his 31st goal of the year.
The Dolphins finished off the game's scoring with 3:07 remaining as junior attackman Joey Pezzimenti (Victor, N.Y./Victor/UAlbany), the NE10 Player of the Year, beat the possession clock to net his 35th goal of the campaign.
No. 2 Bentley 7, #3 Adelphi 4 – Box Score
WALTHAM, Mass. – A stellar defensive effort led Bentley to a 7-4 victory over Adelphi on Wednesday night to advance to the NE10 Championship game on Saturday against Le Moyne.
Bentley held the Panthers to a season-low four goals to defeat them for the second time this season. Falcons goalie Jackson Tinsley (Beverly Hills, Mich.) made 12 saves and the defensive play from the likes of Bryan Powers (Holden, Mass./Wachusett) and Joseph Franzoso (Shrewsbury, Mass./St. John's) came up huge.
Bentley led 6-1 at halftime and they closed the half with a bang as Thorn-Guillaro scored with just one second left on the clock after a save by Tinsley and a quick transition down the field.
Adelphi climbed back to make it 6-3 as they scored the only two goals of the 3rd quarter. The tallies came from sophomore Dylan Barry at the 8:25 mark and Eamon Hall at 7:17.
Bentley started the 4th quarter a man-down, but nothing came of it for Adelphi as Powers caused a turnover. That led to a goal by Garrett Witt (Frederick, Md./Oakdale) at the 13:34 mark give Bentley a four-goal lead at 7-3. There was just one more goal scored in the game, by Adelphi's Kyle Lewis, as the Falcons closed it out. Adelphi had four possessions the rest of the way but came up empty each time.
2023 NE10 Men's Lacrosse Championship
1. Le Moyne (10-0)
2. Bentley (8-2) *
3. Adelphi (8-2) *
4. Pace (7-3) **
5. Saint Anselm (7-3) **
6. Southern New Hampshire (5-5)
* Bentley earned the #2 seed based on their head-to-head over win over Adelphi during the regular season.
** Pace earned the #4 seed based on their head-to-head win over Saint Anselm during the regular season.
Saturday, April 29th
First Round
Game 1: #6 Southern New Hampshire 4, #3 Adelphi 21
Game 2: #5 Saint Anselm 15, #4 Pace 12
Wednesday, May 3rd
Semifinals
Game 3: #1 Le Moyne 8, #5 Saint Anselm 4
Game 4: #2 Bentley 7, #3 Adelphi 4
Saturday, May 6th
Championship at Le Moyne
Game 5: #2 Bentley vs. #1 Le Moyne
ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 13 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 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 NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
