MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The Morrisville State College men's lacrosse team defended their North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) title for a fourth consecutive time Saturday, as they held on to edge second seeded Bryn Athyn College by a final score of 11-10 on Drake Field in Morrisville.
Morrisville State (11-7) will learn their championship tournament destination Sunday during the NCAA Division III selection show scheduled to air at 9:30 tomorrow night on www.ncaa.com.
Sophomore Chris Dovi (Cortland, N.Y.) led all scorers on the day with a season high five goals, earning tournament Most Valuable Player honors, collecting a tournament total eight goals and one assist across two games.
Brad Biggs (Tully, N.Y.) added two scores and assisted another two for four points, to go along with Eric Fisher's (Nutley, N.J.) two tallies.
Joe Piedigrossi (Cortland, N.Y.) and Nick Geswaldo (Lafayette, N.Y.) each added one; Piedigrossi adding an assist.
Senior Dan Sherlock (Tully, N.Y.) posted the win between the pipes behind his 12 save performance, seven that came in the second half of action.
The final match up proved thrilling for those in attendance and came down to the final minute of action, as anticipated, as both teams battled back and forth throughout the evening.
Bryn Athyn went ahead 2-0 midway through the opening quarter with tallies from Andrew Coyle and Cameron Leech, before Morrisville State battled back to even the quarter with consecutive scores. Biggs notched the first for the hosts at the 5:03 mark of the opening frame, before Dovi put home his first of two extra man scores at 2:04.
Morrisville State rattled off two straight in the opening minutes of the second quarter with a rifle of a shot from Piedigrossi from 15-yards off, and another from Dovi, his second of the game, at the 10:22 mark, before Bryn Athyn responded to tie the contest for a second time with two of their own.
Dovi then collected back-to-back scores for the top seed, one as he rolled crease and another off the feed from Piedigrossi, to lead the Mustangs into the break with the 6-4 lead.
After an early score by Fisher just 36 seconds into the third, the Lions clawed back to net the game up at seven with three straight, but the hosts would quickly turn the tables and regain the lead with scores from Biggs and Dovi that came a mere 19 seconds apart to head into the final frame with the 9-7 lead.
Bryn Athyn cut the lead to one twice in the quarter, but Morrisville State was able to withstand the late rally as Fisher put away his second with 4:26 remaining for the two goal Mustang advantage.
The Lions cut it to one with 21 ticks showing on the clock of a tally from Jon Carr, his fourth of the day, but Shawn Walberger (Fulton, N.Y.) won the ensuing face-off and the hosts maintained possession to secure the win, and fourth straight trip to the NCAA tourney.
Carr finished with four goals and Cameron Leech added two additional tallies to go along with three assists to lead the Lions.
Brad DePasquale had a terrific outing for the second seed between the pipes, turning away 15, including several that came on the doorstop.
Morrisville State College's curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs.
The college was ranked among the Best Regional Colleges in the North by U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges 2018 issue and was also recognized in the Top Public Schools, Regional Colleges North in the 2018 Best Colleges rankings. For more information about Morrisville State College, visit www.morrisville.edu.
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