PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – A pair of unanswered goals in the final five minutes of play led the eighth-ranked Pace University men's lacrosse team past NYIT on Wednesday afternoon, 12-10. With the win, the Setters remain a perfect 4-0 to wrap up non-conference play.

With the score even at 10-10, Connor Vercruysse (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) buried a feed from Joseph Diggle (West Islip, NY/West Islip) to put Pace ahead by one with 4:51 remaining. Daniel Keenan (Mount Sinai, NY/Mount Sinai) was able to ice the game with an insurance score just 87 seconds later with his third goal of the game.

It was another multi-point performance from Keenan, who picked up his third hat trick in four games. The senior attack had two assists to go with his trio of goals. Keenan now leads the Setters with 18 points this season.

In a back-and-forth affair featuring six ties and no leads bigger than two goals, the Setters fired first with goals from Vercruysse and Bradley Paterson (Caldwell, NJ/Depaul Catholic) in the opening six-and-a-half minutes. Both attackmen, along with Matthew Simone (Seaford, NY/Seaford), found the back of the net twice.

After Keenan's first goal broke a 2-2 tie, NYIT shot two past Setter netminder Louis Ragusa (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown). Patrick Mulcahy (West Islip, NY/West Islip) would pull the game back even at 4-4 in the closing seconds of the first with his first tally of the year. Keenan, Paterson, and Barfoot would each score in the second quarter to keep the game even, 7-7 at the half.

Simone's two goals in the third, along with a score by Joseph Diggle (West Islip, NY/West Islip), gave the Setters a two-goal lead heading into the fourth.

In net, Ragusa improves to 4-0 in his young career with a 13-save performance. It is now the third straight game that the freshman goalkeeper has made double-figure stops.

Pace put together had a 14-12 advantage in faceoffs, with Steven Weindler (Shoreham, NY/Shoreham Wading River) winning all the decisions for the Setters. Weindler also finished the day with a team-high five groundballs, while Daniel Lewis (Bohemia, NY/Connetquot) led the team with five caused turnovers.

Up Next
Pace begins conference play on Saturday when they hit the road to take on Southern New Hampshire University at noon.