Dolphins Remain Undefeated (16-0) Entering NCAA Championship.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Championship Most Valuable Player Joey Pezzimenti tallied seven points to lead the top-ranked and top-seeded Le Moyne College men's lacrosse team to its 16th Northeast-10 Conference Championship with a 12-8 victory over 10th-ranked and second-seeded Bentley University on Saturday afternoon at Ted Grant Field.
The Dolphins (16-0), who have won five of the last seven conference championships, improve to 16-5 all-time in the conference title game. The Dolphins now await their seeded in the NCAA Championships. The 12-team field will be announced on NCAA.com on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. In the third release of the regional rankings on Wednesday, the Dolphins were ranked first in the North Region.
In addition to Pezzimenti, fifth year faceoff specialist Nico Mattia and redshirt sophomore short-stick defensive midfielder Dom DelPonte earned spots on the all-championship team.
Following a turnover by the Falcons on the first possession of the game, Pezzimenti tallied his 36th goal of the season at the 13:41 mark.
Bentley, which was playing in its fifth NE10 championship game and first since 1998, answered with the final three goals of the quarter. David Gagnon, who was honored postgame with the NE10 Elite 24 Award for having the highest cumulative grade point average in the game, tied the score at the 10:51 mark by just beating the possession clock with his ninth goal of the season. Almost two minutes later, Hunter Smith netted his seventh goal of the year. Conor Segreti followed at the 7:28 mark with his 24th goal of the season after taking a pass from Nick McGovern.
Le Moyne turned the ball over on six of its next seven possessions, including five unsuccessful clear attempts.
Gagnon pushed the Bentley lead to 4-1 just 37 seconds into the second quarter.
The Dolphins countered with back-to-back goals. Graduate student attackman Kevin Sheehan found the back of the net 17 seconds after Gagnon off a feed from Pezzimenti, who then scored 2:11 later to get the Dolphins within 4-3.
Following five and one-half minutes of scoreless play, Gagnon tallied his third goal of the game.
Le Moyne responded with six goals over the final 5:10 of the half. Pezzimenti started the run at the 5:10 mark. Just under 90 seconds later, junior midfielder Kyle Caves registered his 27th goal of the season to knot the score at five. Out of a timeout by the Dolphins with nine seconds left on the possession clock, fifth year midfielder Sam Lambert put the Dolphins in front by swatting the ball into the net from the right edge of the crease with two seconds on the possession clock and 2:22 left in the half after having it dislodged by a defender. Caves extended the lead to two 41 seconds later on a jump shot from the right alley. Following a Bentley penalty with 1:23 left, Sheehan tallied his 19th goal of the season with 53.5 seconds after collecting a pass from junior midfielder Seth Benedict. After Bentley won the ensuing faceoff for its first possession since the 6:16 mark and then Gagnon had a shot saved by graduate student goalkeeper Matt Vavonese, Pezzimenti scored with 1.5 seconds left after coming around the side of the goal from behind during a flag-down situation.
Le Moyne extended its run to nine straight goals with the only three of the third quarter. In an extra-man situation to start the period, Pezzimenti registered his 40th goal of the season, becoming the 20th player in the program's history to reach the mark. He scored again at the 10:41 mark off a feed from fellow Victor-native Lambert for an 11-5 lead. With the goal, Pezzimenti tied Gold Wave Hall of Fame members Bob Tifft and Jim Nee for eighth on the program's single-season points list with 66 points. His six goals in the game are the most by a Dolphin in their 21 conference championship games.
Following nine minutes of scoreless action, Sheehan netted his third goal of the game and 20th of the season with a leap off the crease with 1:33 remaining after receiving a pass from Lambert.
Bentley cut into its deficit with the only three goals of the fourth quarter. Nathan Alviti snapped Bentley's scoring drought of 25:40 with his 21st goal of the season with 10:36 remaining. Just over two minutes later, Nicholas Thorn-Guillaro recorded his 22nd goal of the year. He scored again with 6:44 left off a dish from Alviti.
The Falcons put four shots on goal over the final six minutes, but Vavonese was able to turn each away to secure the victory.
Vavonese recorded five saves in the third quarter and seven in the fourth to finish the game with 16 saves, tying his season-high from the regular-season meeting with the Falcons. Mattia went 17-of-23 at the dot, including 13-of-18 against NE10 Faceoff Specialist of the Year Cam Bartolomeo. Jackson Tinsley tallied 10 saves in the setback for the Falcons.
- Recap provided by Le Moyne athletic communications -
Elite 24 Award:
David Gagnon, Bentley
All-Championship Team
Joey Pezzimenti, Le Moyne *
Nico Mattia, Le Moyne
Dom DelPonte, Le Moyne
Jackson Tinsley, Bentley
Kyle Piersiak, Bentley
Ryan Butler, Adelphi
Ryan Slattery, Saint Anselm
*Most Outstanding Player
2023 NE10 Men's Lacrosse Championship
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 Hosted by Le Moyne
Game 5: #1 Le Moyne 12, #2 Bentley 8
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.
