Game Preview: No. 6 Men's Lacrosse Hosts No. 12 Mercyhurst on Sunday - Mercy University Athletics (2024)

DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 18, 2024) – The No. 6 Mercy University men's lacrosse team hosts No. 12 Mercyhurst University on Sunday, April 21st at 12 p.m.

Who, When and Where

Date/Time: Sunday, April 21st 12 p.m.

Records: #6 Mercy (10-1), #12 Mercyhurst (10-3)

Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

Last Meeting vs. Mercyhurst

Mercyhurst earned a 16-10 win over Mercy on April 1, 2023.

Scouting the Mavericks

Mercy is coming off a 16-12 win over Frostburg State on Saturday. The Mavericks were led by senior Jason Kuehner who had two goals, went 21-of-29 on faceoffs and had a game-high 12 ground balls. Mercy entered the 2024 season ranked No. 8 nationally in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll and No. 10 nationally in the USILA poll. The Mavericks were picked first in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 14-4 last season, winning their fourth straight ECC Championship and qualifying for their fourth straight NCAA Tournament. Mercy looks to make the ECC Tournament for the ninth straight season. Second-year Head Coach Ryan MacSpadyen and the Mavericks return four USILA All-Americans from last year's team.

Leading the returners for the Mavericks is ECC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year graduate student Justin Gerdvil who was named USILA First Team All-American and ECC Defensive Player of the Year last season after recording a team-high 76 ground balls and 41 caused turnovers. Senior Jason Kuehner returns after being tabbed USILA Second Team All-American following a season in which he had a .656 faceoff win percentage and 69 ground balls. Senior Tyler Pjatak was named USILA Third Team All-American a year ago and returns after posting 54 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers. Graduate student TJ Heyder was an All-American Honorable Mention recipient from the USILA last season and returns after recording a team-high 59 goals with 69 points and 30 ground balls.

Kuehner was named USILA Preseason First Team All-American and Gerdvil and Pjatak were tabbed Second Team All-Americans. Gerdvil and Kuehner were named Inside Lacrosse Preseason First Team All-Americans and Pjatak was tabbed to the Second Team. Kuehner was also named USA Lacrosse Magazine Preseason First Team All-American, Gerdvil and Pjatak earned Second Team honors and Heyder received Third Team recognition.

Also returning for the Mavericks is senior Andrew Calabria who was named Second Team All-ECC last season after recording 22 goals, 26 assists and 48 points last season. Calabria ranked third on the team in assists last season. Senior Damiano Ferrara returns after being named Second Team All-ECC last season after recording 39 ground balls with four goals and two assists.

Senior Greg Gibbons recorded 10 goals, 13 assists and 23 points last season and sophom*ore Devon Duchnowski returns after recording 19 goals and two assists in a strong rookie campaign in 2023. Senior Brody Caskenette had 13 goals and five assists last season and junior Ryan Smith returns after posting six goals and nine assists in 2023.

Senior Justin DeMonte, junior Ian Votta, and sophom*ores Ryken Kutner, Connor Abrahall, AJ Barone, and Jack Agres return after combining for 28 goals and 14 assists last season. Junior Ryan Resnick returns after going 14-of-24 on faceoffs last season with 11 ground balls and one assist. Joining the faceoff team for the Mavericks is sophom*ore transfer Kenneth Summit who joins the Mavericks from Limestone University. Summit had a .555 faceoff win percentage with 28 ground balls last season for the Saints.

Graduate student James Distefano returns on defense after recording four caused turnovers and eight ground balls in eight starts last season. Sophom*ores Sean Higgins, Danny Fitzgerald, Joe Sorok, Matthew Kramer and Michael Corbo and seniors Michael Morra and Gabe DeRoché also return for the Mavericks and look to see increased playing time in 2024.

Returning in goal for the Mavericks is sophom*ore Peter Murphy who appeared in four games last season and made eight saves with a .727 save percentage and 6.75 goals-against average. Senior Tyler Vassell also returns in goal after appearing in three contests last season. Leading the newcomers in goal is freshman Cameron Dorfman who was named MVP of the Suffolk County Championship.

MacSpadyen will also look to freshmen Justin Ortiz, Jake Norton, Colin Orsino, Jason Kassis, Dillon Osorio and Christopher Bergersen and transfers Owen Stephenson, Eddie Montemurro and Shane Roche to help the Mavericks get back to the NCAA Tournament. Orsino was an All-Suffolk County Honorable Mention selection and had 52 points during his senior season and Bergersen and Norton were State Championship Finalists at Farmingdale High School and Bergersen was tabbed All-County. Stephenson played at CCBC Essex last season and had a team-high 22 caused turnovers with 48 ground balls. Roche played for Onondaga Community College in 2022 and had eight goals and two assists in 11 games. Montemurro returns to the Mavericks after beginning his career with Mercy before heading to Binghamton University. The graduate student appeared in four games for the Mavericks in 2020 with two ground balls.

The Mavericks have been led by senior Greg Gibbons who was named ECC Offensive Player of the Week and tabbed to the USILA D2 Team of the Week on February 20th and was named to the Honor Roll on March 11th and April 8th. Gibbons leads the team with 46 points on 20 goals and a team-high 26 assists with 24 ground balls. Senior Andrew Calabria has been tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll three times and is second on the team with 45 points on 20 goals and 25 assists. The senior recorded his 100th career point in the win over Bentley on February 23rd. Senior Brody Caskenette has 41 points on 27 goals with 14 assists and freshman Christopher Bergersen has 17 goals and four assists. Graduate student TJ Heyder has been named to the ECC Honor Roll three times and has a team-high 28 goals with 11 assists. Sophom*ore Devon Duchnowski has recorded 19 goals and four assists and junior Ryan Smith has five goals and five assists.

Senior Damiano Ferrara has six goals, three assists and recorded his 100th career ground ball against Georgian Court on February 27th. Senior Tyler Pjatak has five goals, three assists,39 ground balls and 18 caused turnovers. Graduate student Justin Gerdvil has been named ECC Defensive Player of the Week three times and tabbed to the USILA D2 Team of the Week on March 5th and has a team-high 25 caused turnovers with 41 ground balls and senior Owen Stephenson has 14 caused turnovers with 29 ground balls. Gerdvil recorded his 200th career ground ball against Roberts Wesleyan on March 16th and his 100th career caused turnover against Frostburg State on April 13th.

Senior Jason Kuehner has been named ECC Offensive Player of the Week twice, has been tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll four times and was named to the USILA D2 Team of the Week on February 27th. He is 187-278 (.673) on faceoffs with a team-high 109 ground balls and freshman Cameron Dorfman has been named ECC Defensive Player of the Week twice and Rookie of the Week four times. Dorfman is 8-1 in goal with 98 saves, a .560 save percentage and 8.84 goals-against average. Sophom*ore Peter Murphy was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on April 8th and is 2-0 in goal with 23 saves, a .548 save percentage and 9.50 goals-against average.

The Mavericks are ranked No. 6 nationally in the USILA poll and No. 5 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll. Mercy is 1-5 all-time against Mercyhurst with the lone win coming in 2021. The Mavericks are 0-3 all-time at home against Mercyhurst.

Scouting the Lakers

Mercyhurst is coming off a 26-1 win over Tiffin on Wednesday for their eighth straight win. Last year's National Runner-Up were picked second in the GMAC Preseason Poll after going 16-3 last season, falling to Lenoir-Rhyne in the National Championship Game. The Lakers are ranked No. 12 nationally in the USILA Poll. Mercyhurst is led by Ethan Landymore who has a team-high 48 points on a team-high 36 goals with 12 assists. Colin Tardif has 24 goals and a team-high 19 assists and Jeremi Phoenix-Lefebvre has 24 goals and 16 assists. Ryan Mahoney has 14 goals and 14 assists and Matthew Welch is 85-137 (.620) on faceoffs with a team-high 55 ground balls. Stephen Morley and Braden McCard both have a team-high nine caused turnovers and Brett Olney is 10-3 in goal with 100 saves, a .538 save percentage and 9.48 goals-against average.

Next Game

Mercy hosts D'Youville on Sunday, April 28th at 12 p.m.