PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – For the third consecutive Northeast-10 Men's Lacrosse Championship, Pace will face Bentley in the opening round, with a spot in the semifinals and a date with top-seeded Adelphi on the line.
 
The No. 4 Setters and No. 5 Falcons will kick off this year's tournament on Saturday at 4 p.m. from Pace Stadium.
 
THE 2022 REGULAR SEASON
 
Pace concluded the regular season at 11-3 overall and 7-3 in the conference, which earned the team the fourth seed in the NE10 Championship.
 
The Setters started 2022 hot at 6-0, then lost two of the next three before enjoying a three-game winning streak, and finally split their last two games.
 
The team never dropped back-to-back contests and won six out of seven at home, where they will commence their pursuit of the program's second-ever conference crown and first in 23 years.
 
Pace was reliably strong in all facets of the field of play this season. The high-octane attack guided the way, while a bend but don't break defense and clutch goalkeeping reinforced the defensive area.
 
The team finished the season first in the NE10 in several statistical categories, including:
 

• Goals: 211
• Assists: 136
• Shooting Percentage: 31.8%
• Shots on goal Percentage: 61.7%
• Ground Balls: 499
• Caused Turnovers: 180
• Save Percentage: 61.8%

 
SENIOR LEADERSHIP ALL OVER THE FIELD
 
In a dazzling showcase of scoring, passing, and commitment to teamwork, the top-three point marks in the NE10 this season all belonged to Pace seniors.
 
Jakes Veres finished first with 63 points and nipping right at his heels were Kyle Casey (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) and Tim Cairo (Shoreham, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) who each had 59. The trifecta were also top-3 in assists and top-6 in goals.
 
No other team in the conference had three top-10 players in goals/assists/points, let alone in the top-6. Over and over again, the three attackers gave up good shots for better shots in a beautiful display of team-first offense.
 
Another senior who shone brightly this season was Louis Ragusa (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown).
 
The Yorktown Heights-native has started every Pace game for the last four years and finished 2022 with the best NE10 save percentage overall (61.8%) and played the most minutes in conference games of anyone.
 
Ragusa ended the season with some of the best goalkeeping of his career, saving a career-high 20 shots against Bentley two weeks ago, then topping that in the very next game, making 21 saves against Saint Anselm last week. Ragusa's 30 ground balls are also the third most on the team.
 
Griffin Shiland (Mohegan Lake, N.Y./Lakeland), Timothy January (Peabody, Mass./Peabody Veterans Memorial), and Matthew Rice (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) were defensive linchpins for the Setters this season, as Shiland's 61 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers led the team and were NE10 top-8 marks.
 
January's 17 caused turnovers and Rice's 15 were also among the 20 most in the conference.
 
NEXT MAN UP
 
Despite the well-equipped play of the Setter veterans, one of the team's biggest strengths in 2022 has been the depth of its roster, and the fact that they don't rely on any one player, instead competing as a single cohesive unit.
 
A duo of midfielders in particular took their games to another level this season.
 
Junior Anthony Caputo (Westbury, N.Y./W.T Clarke) managed to improve upon his 2021 NE10 All-Conference First Team and Rookie of the Year campaign by scoring 24 goals and handing out 19 assists. Caputo scored in every game but one.
 
Rafael Rodriguez, Jr. (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem East) had a breakout season after being named to the NE10 All-Rookie Team last year. The Farmingville-sophomore scored 18 times and dished seven assists. Rodriguez scored in every game but two.
 
Sophomores Maxwell Streety (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) and Rowan Kelly (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) were vital two-way players as well.
 
Streety was a ground ball machine, scooping up 60 and registering seven points out of the midfield. Kelly had eight points, to go along with 22 ground balls and nine caused turnovers.
 
PAST IS PROLOGUE
 
No. 4 Pace and No. 5 Bentley are very familiar foes, having played each other in each of the last two postseasons.
 
The Setters came out on top in both games, including last season's 11-9 fourth quarter road comeback win when the teams' seedings were flipped. Pace entered the final 15 minutes down two but ended up winning by two, outscoring Bentley 5-1 in the fourth.
 
The playoff rematch will take place exactly one day to the year ago.
 
The Setters had another resurgent victory over the Falcons in Waltham just two weeks ago, this time erasing a three-goal deficit with less than one minute to play, and completing the rally in overtime, pulsated by two Jake Veres (Robbinsville, N.J./Robbinsville) goals in the last 26 seconds of regulation.
 
In the last pair of fourth quarters against the Falcons alone, Veres has five goals and seven points, which are each equal to his single-game career-highs.
 
 Pace has had the advantage in recent outings versus Bentley, winning the last five encounters.
 
Historically this will be the third straight and fifth overall postseason matchup between the two programs, every one of which has been a four-five first-round matchup, with the Setters holding a three to one edge:
 

• 2002: Pace 11, Bentley 9 (Waltham, MA)
• 2010: Bentley 12, Pace 6 (Waltham, MA)
• 2019: Pace 16, Bentley 10 (Pleasantville, NY)
• 2021: Pace 11, Bentley 9 (Waltham, MA)
• 2022: Pace vs. Bentley (Pleasantville, NY)

 
SCOUTING THE FALCONS
 
Bentley has scored and dished out the third most assists in conference games this season with 140 and 80. They have also picked up the most ground balls (181) and have the best clear percentage (91.8%) in the NE10.
 
Bentley's leading scorer and assister is junior Luke Jaber, with 31 and 16 respectively.
 
Sophomore Cam Bartolomeo leads the team in ground balls at an impressive 65, and freshman Alex Parton has caused a team-best 19 turnovers.
 
Bentley is coached by the only person to have ever coached the squad, Jim Murphy, who is in his 30^th season at the helm of the Falcons' men's lacrosse program. The six-time NE10 Coach of the Year has led Bentley to three Northeat-10 Conference Championships.
 
COACH MARIANO
 
Head coach Tom Mariano is in his ninth season leading Pace University men's lacrosse.
 
He has posted a 75-46 record, and the team has qualified for the NE10 Championship tournament on seven straight occasions, every year of his tenure other than his inaugural season.
 
Mariano has led the team to three NE10 Championship semifinals, in 2017, 2019, and 2021, and guided the Setters to their first ever berth in the NCAA Tournament back in 2017.
 
Pace's 11 wins this season are the third highest amount under Mariano who has fostered an environment of accountability, buy-in, and belief.
 
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