PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The Pace University men's lacrosse team opened Northeast-10 Conference play Saturday evening against nationally-ranked No. 3 Merrimack College under the lights of Pace Stadium Saturday evening. The Setters dropped their NE-10 opener to the Warriors, 17-8, dropping them to 3-2 on the year and 0-1 in conference play. Merrimack remains undefeated at 5-0 overall and 4-0 against NE-10 opponents.
Merrimack looked strong from the jump, as Blake Boudreau won the opening face-off, and sprinted straight for the goal, scoring eight seconds into the game. The Warriors went on to take a 5-1 advantage through the end of the first quarter.
The Setters turned up the heat early in the second frame. Sophomore
Joshua Kreitler (Shelton, CT/Shelton) scored 20 seconds into the period to get Pace back within three. Sophomore
Anthony Gadaleta (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) then scored at the 7:29 mark off a feed from freshman
Bradley Paterson (Caldwell, NJ/Depaul Catholic) to make it a 5-3 game. Pace drew an extra-man opportunity with 6:02 left in the half, and senior
Matthew Cossidente (Port Jefferson Station, NY/Comsewogue) capitalized by scoring 28 seconds later for a man-up goal to make it a one-goal game.
A two-minute illegal body check by the Setters led to three-straight man-up scores for Merrimack, giving the Warriors an 8-4 edge. Nearing the end of the half, John Bassett scored twice for Merrimack in the final 12 seconds to make it a 10-4 game at the break.
The Warriors added three more goals in the third, while Pace got goals from Gadaleta and sophomore
Liam Brennan (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman). The two Setters scored twice more late in the fourth, but it was not enough as the nationally-ranked Warriors held on for the win.
Merrimack's Sam Ventresca improves to 5-0 on the year after stopping three shots and allowing eight goals. Sophomore goalkeeper
Robert Beshlian (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) falls to 3-2 after yielding 12 goals and stopping nine shots in 36:23 between the pipes.
Gadaleta finished up with a team-high three goals, adding two ground balls in the game. Brennan scored twice and matched junior
Brandon Donnellan (Chester, NY/Warwick Valley) and senior
Matt Ruquet (Rocky Point, NY/Rocky Point / Manhattan College) for a team-leading four ground balls. Donnellan also led with two caused turnovers.
Bassett scored four goals and assisted another for Merrimack. Jack Trask scored three times and assisted three more scores for six total points.
The Setters will look to bounce back when they hit the road on Saturday, March 19, to continue NE-10 play at Saint Michael's College. The opening face-off is set for 1 p.m.
For all information regarding Pace University men's lacrosse, log on to
www.PaceUAthletics.com, follow Pace Athletics on Facebook (
T-Bone, Official Mascot of Pace University Athletics), and follow the men's lacrosse team on Twitter (
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