MANCHESTER, N.H. – Tuesday evening's Northeast-10 Conference Championship First Round matchup had no clear-cut favorite, which was made evident by the highly-competitive matchup played by the No. 5 seeded Pace University men's lacrosse team and No. 4 Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) at Dr. George R. Larkin Field. In a game that was bound to determine a winner by which team made the last run, the host Penmen scored four of the last five goals, taking a 15-13 victory to advance to the semifinal round of the tournament.
The Setters were eliminated from the postseason with Tuesday's loss to SNHU. After their previous matchup needed overtime to find a victor, another close contest went the way of the Penmen, who move on to face-off with top-seeded Le Moyne College on Friday, May 6, in Syracuse, N.Y.
Pace fell into an early hole, as the Penmen jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game. Junior
Brandon Donnellan (Chester, NY/Warwick Valley) ended the drought for Pace at the 3:50 mark of the first quarter, getting Pace back within two. Just 28 seconds later, sophomore
Liam Brennan (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman) made it two in a row for Pace, making it a one-goal game. SNHU's Keifer Heckman then got the Penmen back on the board, leaving them up, 4-2, heading into the second.
It was not long before Pace scored again, as junior
Peter Sharp (Airmont, NY/Suffern) netted one by the 13:49 mark of the second frame. Freshman
Kevin Vogelsberg (Wantagh, NY/Holy Trinity Diocesan) added one of his own a couple minutes later to tie the game, and then sophomore
Anthony Gadaleta (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) added one more at 10:55 to give the Setters their first lead. This was just the beginning of an exciting second period that saw both teams combine for 12 goals.
SNHU's Chris West tied the game shortly after Gadaleta gave Pace the lead, bug Vogelsberg added his second of the game to put Pace back on top. Freshman
Vincent Vasheo (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) joined in on the action less than a minute later, making it 7-5 in favor of the Setters. The visitors extended their lead to three when Sharp tallied his second to make it 8-5.
Heckman scored the next two goals of the game to get the Penmen back within a goal. Sharp netted his third during a man-down situation to once again make it a two-goal advantage for Pace. Heckman scored once more at 1:18, and then Cameron McGuire tied the game for SNHU, sending the game into the half tied up, 9-9.
After the break, both teams came out with a more defensive-minded game plan. Five minutes into the third, Cameron Joyce scored a man-up goal to give SNHU a 10-9 lead. Brennan quickly tied the game once again. Another extra-man opportunity led to another goal for the Penmen, as Daniel Trainor scored with 7:07 to go. With time running out in the quarter, Brennan scored once more with just one second left, making it 11-11 as they headed to the fourth.
Senior
Matthew Cossidente (Port Jefferson Station, NY/Comsewogue) took advantage of having an extra man, and scored at 13:51 to take the lead back for the Setters. After this point, the Penmen took their time to score the next four goals over nearly six minutes. It was not until the 2:36 mark that Brennan scored once more to make it 15-13 in favor of the Penmen. The Setters were unable to get another offensive opportunity in the period, ultimately falling by two goals.
Brennan finished up with four goals and a pair of ground balls to lead Pace on Tuesday. Sharp scored three times, and Vogelsberg netted two. Cossidente and Gadaleta each scored a goal and handed out an assist, while freshman
Bradley Paterson (Caldwell, NJ/Depaul Catholic) dished out two helpers. Junior
Jeremy Wiley (Port Jefferson Station, NY/Comsewogue) scooped up a game-high seven ground balls and caused two turnovers, while Donnellan scored once, grabbed four ground balls and had a game-high three caused turnovers.
Heckman scored six times to lead all scorers in Tuesday's First Round matchup. Trainor scored four times, while Joyce put two in net. Zach Jacobs added a pair of assists. Ryan Pacheco and Cam Rewucki each picked up five ground balls.
Goalkeeper Tyler Walsh matched his 13 goals allowed with 13 saves to get the win and improve to 9-1 for the Penmen. Sophomore goalkeeper
Robert Beshlian (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) made 11 saves, his eighth game with double-digit saves in the last nine, but took the loss to fall to 11-6.
The Setters outshot the Penmen, 48-44, but both teams were even with 26 shots on net. SNHU won the ground-ball batter, 39-29. SNHU turned the ball over 19 times, while Pace gave it away just 14 times.
The Setters complete the season having made their second-straight appearance in the Northeast-10 Conference Championships. The Setters improved from 9-7 in 2015 to 11-6 a year later. SNHU will take on Le Moyne on Friday at 2 p.m. No. 3 Adelphi University defeated No. 6 Saint Anselm College on Tuesday, and advances to face No. 2 Merrimack College on Friday at 4 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 (
@PaceLacrosse) and on Instagram (
@PaceUnivLax).
