PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The Pace University men's lacrosse team suffered its first defeat of the 2023 season, dropping a 12-8 decision to No. 1 ranked Le Moyne College Tuesday, March 28 at Pace Stadium.

The Setters (6-1, 2-1 NE10) started strong on the offensive end, putting up five goals in the opening quarter. After an early goal by Le Moyne's (7-0, 3-0 NE10) Joey Pezzimenti, who had four goals on the day, back-to-back goals by sophomore attack Daniel Zabbia (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills West) and grad student attack Ryan Brown (Northport, N.Y./Central Bucks) gave Pace a 2-1 lead.

The Dolphins tied it with just under five minutes remaining, but the Setters then scored three unanswered goals in a span of 2:27 to take a 5-2 lead. Zabbia added one more, while senior midfielder Anthony Caputo (Westbury, N.Y./W.T Clarke) and freshman midfielder Colin Reese (Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) each put one in, with Reese's goal being the first of his collegiate career.

The visitors tightened up defensively in the second quarter, limiting Pace to one goal. Kyle Caves scored a pair of man-up goals for Le Moyne, while Pezzimenti added two of his own. A goal by Caputo just short of the five-minute mark was the only score for the Setters in the period, as the Dolphins outscored Pace 4-1 in the quarter to tie the game at six going into the half.

Le Moyne scored two goals in the opening 4:02 of the third to open up an 8-6 lead, but Caputo's third of the day brought it back to a one goal game at the halfway point of the period. Just over a minute later, the Dolphins put another one on the board, followed by junior midfielder Alex Cenci's (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) second goal of the season, which cut the deficit to one heading to the fourth quarter.

The No. 1 ranked team in the country was strong on the defensive end over the final 15 minutes, keeping the Setters off the scoreboard in the quarter. Le Moyne scored 16 seconds in to push its lead back to two, and two fourth quarter goals by Griffin Ackley provided two more goals for the visitors, who took a 12-8 win in conference play.

On the day, Caputo scored three times, while Zabbia added two goals. Brown and Cenci each had one goal and one assist, while junior midfielder Maxwell Streety (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) led the team with seven ground balls. Grad student Louis Ragusa (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) made 10 saves for the Setters on the day.

Up Next
Pace now takes to the road Saturday, April 1 for a 4 p.m. conference matchup at Southern New Hampshire University.