PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The No. 11 ranked Pace University men's lacrosse team's comeback came up short as No. 18 Bentley University took an 11-10 victory over the Setters Saturday, April 15 at Pace Stadium.
Prior to the game, the team celebrated its nine seniors, as JoJo Janavey (Shrub Oak, N.Y./Lakeland), Ryan Brown (Northport, N.Y./Central Bucks), Jake Veres (Robbinsville, N.J./Robbinsville), Louis Ragusa (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown), Bryan Viglione (Trumbull, Conn./St. Joseph's), Devin Bell (Calgary, Alberta/Ernest Manning), Anthony Caputo (Westbury, N.Y./W.T Clarke), Jake Meeker (Shoreham, N.Y./Shoreham Wading River) and Marcus Ottaviano (Crystal Beach, Ontario, Canada/Nichols School) were all honored before the opening faceoff.
Bentley (6-4, 5-2 NE10) got off to a hot start, scoring the first three goals of the game and outscored Pace (9-3, 5-3 NE10) 5-2 in the first 15 minutes. The Falcons had five different players tally a goal in the quarter, but the Setters were able to get on the board with a goal Caputo with just under nine minutes remaining. With just seven seconds remaining in the quarter, Brown put one in as well, getting Pace back within three at the end of one.
The next 15 minutes belong to the home team, as the Setters came storming back to tie the game. After an early goal by the Falcons, Pace scored four unanswered goals throughout the rest of the period. Caputo got his second of the night, followed by a goal from Ottaviano just 34 seconds later to cut the deficit to two. With under five minutes remaining, Veres scored his first of the night, and sophomore attack Daniel Zabbia (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills West) scored to tie it with 2:29 remaining in the half as the teams went into the break at 6-6.
After a weather delay, the teams got underway in the third quarter just after 9 p.m. The Falcons scored the first two goals of the period, going up 8-6 with eight minutes remaining. Just past the midway point, Caputo netted another to get Pace within a goal, then Veres scored three minutes later to tie it once again. However, a goal by Bentley's Nicholas Thorn-Guillaro, who had three goals on the night, with under two minutes left gave the Falcons a 9-8 lead heading to the fourth.
Caputo opened the final quarter with the tying goal in the opening minute, knotting the score at 9-9. Then with 8:41 remaining, Veres picked up his third of the night to give the Setters their first lead of the game. With under four minutes left, Nathan Alviti tied the game for the Falcons, then Conor Segreti scored for the visitors with just 2:18 remaining to give them the lead. Pace was unable to match, as the Setters came up just short in an 11-10 decision.
On the night, Caputo had four goals, while Veres scored three times. Ragusa made 10 saves on the night for Pace.
Up Next
Pace plays its home finale Wednesday, April 19, when the Setters host No. 10 ranked Saint Anselm College.
