The Le Moyne men’s lacrosse team might have benefited most from the expansion of the NCAA Division II lacrosse tournament’s field to eight teams from four this season.
The Dolphins (16-2) suffered their second loss of the regular season, 10-9, at Adelphi April 6, which has forced them to win out in hopes of securing a playoff spot. Yet in the past, that defeat would have signaled the end to their season.
“In Division II, it used to be you lose one game and, boy, you were in a tough spot. You lose two (and) you’re done,” longtime Le Moyne coach Dan Sheehan said during a conference call Tuesday.
The expanded field still have the Dolphins a chance. They capitalized on it by winning seven straight games to end the season, including a 7-5 win at Adelphi in the Northeast-10 Conference championship game. They followed that with wins at LIU-Post and Adelphi in the first two rounds of the national playoffs to earn a chance to face Mercyhurst in the Division II title game Sunday at 1 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
Mercyhurst coach Chris Ryan often has praised the new tournament format.
“It’s just been a huge boost for Division II (because) more teams got in,” he said. Ryan also said “it made a lot interesting for the players. These kids come to college to play games and play in the playoffs. If you’re going to attend Le Moyne College or Mercyhurst University, you come with the understanding that the goal is to play in May. So I think the kids welcome the challenge.”
* Ready for anything: Ryan said his team is ready for any adversity the national title game may provide. A regular season that he called “a year unlike any other” has created that level of toughness. Ryan pointed to the cold, wet weather early in the season that kept the team from practicing outside at times, as well as the comebacks and close finishes. The Lakers played four games decided in the final minutes and six one-goal games in all.
“We had a very high level of stress going into this last couple of weeks,” said Ryan, whose team needed overtime to beat Lake Erie and Limestone in the first two playoff rounds. The Lakers needed two goals in the final minute of regulation to force OT against Limestone last weekend.
“There wasn’t panic. There wasn’t desperation,” Ryan said. “The kids just knew they had to make a play. We had to make something happen.”
* High praise: Mercyhurst junior goaltender Michael Grace paid his defense a hefty compliment earlier this week. “I really do have the best defense in front of me in the country,” he said. “They make my job way easier.” The Lakers rank fifth nationally with 7.50 goals allowed per game. Le Moyne stands atop the list at 5.32 per game.
* News and notes: Mercyhurst ranks fourth nationally in scoring offense at 13.72 goals per game, three spots ahead of Le Moyne (seventh at 13.00 per game). … Both teams rank among the top 10 in nearly offensive and defensive category. … Le Moyne G Jeff White leads the nation with a 5.30 goals-against average.

West Chester beat out Indiana (Pa.) to win the Dixon Trophy for the 2012-13 season. The award, given in each of the past 18 years to the PSAC’s top athletics program, is the first for West Chester.

The Dixon Trophy is awarded to the PSAC school that accumulates the top score based on results of conference playoffs and/or regular-season records.

Edinboro placed fifth overall, while Gannon was eighth and Mercyhurst finished 11th out of 16 teams. The Gannon women led all PSAC women’s sports programs with an average score of 11.75. The Knights claimed a PSAC crown in women’s volleyball.

Edinboro won conference titles in wrestling and men’s cross country, while Mercyhurst had a PSAC title in men’s soccer.

Check out the Dixon Trophy totals here.

Among its 22 sports, West Chester had an average score of 10.77 while IUP compiled a 10.74 for its 19 sports program. Shippensburg, with a 10.05 average, took third, while Slippery Rock (9.94) and Edinboro (9.85) were also in the top five.

West Chester won four conference championships (men’s and women’s swimming, field hockey and women’s lacrosse), while runner-up IUP won league titles in football, men’s golf and men’s basketball.

Shippensburg won more PSAC titles than any other school with crowns in men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field, and women’s cross country.

Shippensburg has the most Dixon titles with seven since the trophy was first awarded in 1996. Bloomsburg and Lock Haven have won three apiece.

Mercyhurst women’s volleyball standout Elyse Texido and Luis Leao of the men’s basketball team were named the Lakers’ Senior Female and Male Student-Athletes of the Year, respectively, at the university’s annual Senior Sports Banquet this past weekend.

Elyse Texido

Luis Leao

Texido, a defensive specialist/libero, racked up a school-record 666 digs and was named the PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Year and All-PSAC first team selection. She helped Mercyhurst go to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009. Texido finished third in program history in digs (1,627) and aces (126).

Leao, a 6-foot 5-inch forward, was the first Lakers’ player ever to be named to the NABC All-American Team. He averaged 18.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game this past season. Leao also was named PSAC West Athlete of the Year to go along with numerous other accolades.

Leao  finished ninth in program history in scoring (1,221 points).

Gannon’s Shayne Herold, Mercyhurst’s Ben Rawding and Penn State Behrend’s Vinny Rice each were named to all-region baseball teams Monday.

Herold made the Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association All-Atlantic Region first team. The redshirt senior right-hander finished the regular season with a 9-0 record and 1.09 earned-run average.

Rawding, a senior left-hander, made the Rawlings/ABCA second team after finishing 9-3 with a 2.66 ERA.

Herold and Rawding each were named to earlier all-region teams.

Rice, meanwhile, made the D3baseball.com Mideast Region third team. The senior first baseman had a .378 batting average with 45 hits and 26 RBIs.

Andrew Wagner

Mercyhurst men’s lacrosse player Andrew Wagner was named to USILA’s All-American first team for the second straight year, while teammates Brian Scheetz and Zac Reid were named to the second team and honorable mention, respectively.

Wagner, a junior defender, totaled 25 groundballs and 11 caused turnovers while also consistently defending opposing teams’ top offensive performers this season.

Scheetz, a senior attackman, leads the top-ranked Lakers (18-0) with 72 points (26 goals, 46 assists) while also collecting 36 groundballs. Reid, a senior midfielder, has 29 goals – including seven in an 18-17 overtime win against second-ranked Limestone in the NCAA Division II semifinals this past Saturday — and 43 points.

The Lakers, which have recorded All-Americans in 10 straight years and 13 honorees overall in program history, face third-ranked Le Moyne (17-2) in the national championship game Sunday at 1 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

As the college spring sports seasons come to a close, area athletes continue to collect postseason accolades.

Aaron Cressley

Nick Grow

In this week’s On Campus notebook, read about a pair of former Erie County 
high school pitching standouts — Corry’s Aaron Cressley and North East’s Nick Grow – earning all-conference honors.

Cressley, a sophomore pitcher at Pitt-Bradford, was named to the AMCC second team after leading the team with a 2.25 ERA.

Grow, a relief pitcher for Westminster, was named to the honorable-mention all-Presidents’ Athletic Conference team. He broke the Titans’ single-season saves record with eight and set the career saves mark with 11.

Three area softball players recently were named to the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association Atlantic Region all-star team. Mercyhurst sophomore Shaina 
Bunker and Edinboro senior catcher 
Marissa Pullo made the first team, while Gannon freshman center fielder Alexa Archambeault made the Atlantic Region second team.

Also featured in this week’s notebook:

• McDowell graduates De’Vion Tate and John Dahlstrand helped Akron’s track team win the Mid-American Conference outdoor championship.

• Fort LeBoeuf grad Anthony Peluso, a sophomore at Seton 
Hill, was a member of a WVIAC-title winning 400-meter relay team.

• Mercyhurst North East recently named Conneaut Lake graduate Aaron Smith its Outstanding Wrestler of the Year.

Get all the details in this week’s On Campus notebook.

The Mercyhurst lacrosse team’s top midfield trio of Deven Alves, James Chayka and Zac Reid rebounded from a tough outing at the perfect time.
They combined for 12 goals and one assist, including the game’s final three goals, in the top-ranked Lakers 18-17 overtime win against No. 2 Limestone in a NCAA Division II semifinal Saturday at Tullio Field. This after they were held scoreless by Lake Erie in last weekend’s national quarterfinals.
“We didn’t have our best game last weekend,” said Reid, who had a career-high seven goals – one shy of the school record of eight set by Bryon Lindner against Molloy on April 22, 2008, and the most since Cameron McLean scored seven against Dominican (N.Y.) on April 4, 2009. “We benefited from having an off week and being fortunate enough to can our shots when we had the chance.”
Reid scored his seven goals on 14 of the Lakers’ 49 shots. Mercyhurst outshot the Saints by four despite being dominated on faceoffs – Limestone won 28-of-39 overall – and losing the groundball battle 45-33. The Saints’ 16 turnovers, which were nine more than the Lakers, helped Mercyhurst’s offense.
“You find a way to adapt and overcome at that point,” Lakers coach Chris Ryan said.
* Speaking of faceoffs: Ryan used four players – faceoff specialist Mitch McAvoy, midfielder Kyle Lindsay and defensemen Patrick Maloney and Ryan Sullivan – against Limestone’s Jake Ternosky. Yet Ternosky, the nation’s sixth best at faceoffs entering the game (.650 winning percentage), still dominated that category as the Saints’ lone faceoff man. “The Ternosky kid is just exceptional at what he does,” Ryan said. “We have a pretty good faceoff guy (in McAvoy, who was 10th in the nation at .597). But Jake Ternosky is the best in Division II, and he proved it today. You just have to find another way to beat a team, and we found a way to keep ourselves in the game and get the ball back at times.”
Ternosky said “I just felt like I was in a groove. When it all came down to it, it was the offense. These guys were producing and making my job a lot easier (and) just giving us momentum to do whatever we wanted.”
* Complete faith: Mercyhurst trailed 17-15 as the final minute of regulation began. Yet Ryan believed his team could complete the comeback.
“Everyone chips in. Everyone buys in. Everyone has a good idea of what has to be done on a daily basis,” he said. “To tell you the truth, hat comes from the seniors. They’ve been there and they’ve seen both ends of it, winning and losing. They know how to get it done. As far as I’m concerned, as a coach you can put a lot of trust in these kids. They just know how to get stuff done. They know their way around the block.”
* Taking blame: Limestone coach J.B. Clarke praised his team for “the battle these guys fought today.” Then he blamed himself for the loss.
“Coach Ryan did a great job getting his team ready to play. I think my team came ready to play,” Clarke said. “I don’t think I did a very good job of having them in the right spots at the right time.” Clarke also gave Ryan and the Lakers “because they played our way and beat us.”
* Erasing bad memories: Reid said thoughts of a 7-6 overtime loss to Dowling in the 2012 national semifinals at Tullio Field crept into his mind late in Saturday’s game. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t,” he said. “I felt terrible last year after the Dowling game. I didn’t want to feel that way again.”
* News and notes: Ryan and Clarke apparently had a heated verbal exchange after the game. When asked what happened, Ryan said, “I said good game.” … Riley scored three goals – his 52nd, 53rd and 54th of the season – for Limestone to finish his four-year career with 154 goals. … Mercyhurst has lost all four all-time meetings with Le Moyne, their national title-game opponent, including a last-second 6-5 loss in the 2007 championship game. … The Lakers can become the first team to win more than 18 games in a national championship season with a win next weekend.

- Victor Fernandes

James Chayka scored with 4.1 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and then Deven Alves scored with 2:56 left in the extra period, to give No. 1 Mercyhurst an improbable 18-17 win against No. 2 Limestone in the NCAA Division II lacrosse semifinals Saturday at Tullio Field.
The Lakers (18-0) will face the winner of Saturday’s semifinal between Adelphi and Le Moyne in the title game May 26 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

- Victor Fernandes

Mercyhurst (17-0)
G – 5 Michael Grace
D – 11 Peter Plaskey
D – 18 Patrick Maloney
D – 20 Andrew Wagner
MF – 3 James Chayka
MF – 19 Zac Reid
A – 1 Deven Alves
A – 4 Jake McAndrew
A – 7 Brian Scheetz
A – 14 Brady Heseltine

Coach: Chris Ryan

Limestone (16-1)
G – 33 Christian Dzwilewski
D – 9 Glenn Trovato
D – 24 Jake Wojtowicz
D – 40 – Zach Missel
LSM – 28 Mike Ponzio
FS – 22 Jake Ternosky
MF – 7 Tor Reinholdt
A – 8 Todd Nakasuji
A – 10 Riley Loewen
A – 20 Corey Rich

Coach: J.B. Clarke

Mercyhurst men’s lacrosse coach Chris Ryan and Limestone coach J.B. Clarke shared their thoughts on the keys to success in their teams’ NCAA Division II semifinal matchup Saturday:

Mercyhurst coach Chris Ryan: “For us, I just think fundamentally we need to execute and we need to play good sound defense on Saturday. They are such a high-octane team with such skilled players really all over the field. They put a lot of pressure on you in all points offensively. You have to be able to play defense on these guys. They can fill the net up.
You can run scout (team practice), and you can diagram stuff up and hand out (scouting) reports. But until you see it at game speed in front of you, it’s a whole other experience especially with a team like Limestone. Again they can rotate the ball. They’re athletic. They can stretch you out by shooting from outside 12, 13 yards. Until you see that at game speed it’s pretty hard to prepare for.”
(In last Saturday’s quarterfinal win against) Lake Erie, we could have told you what kind of gum they were chewing by the time we got down to overtime. Because we haven’t played these guys, because we don’t have a whole lot of common opponents, the scouting report is going to be a little bit thinner for Saturday. I think both teams are going to have to rely on their ability to play the game a little bit more. You’re more apt to find some unfamiliar situations out on the field.
It adds another layer to the competitiveness and obviously the spontaneity of the game out there on Saturday. It’s just going to make it a heck of a lot more interesting with these two programs running into each other in such an important game. The lacrosse players are going to have to make some plays for both teams on Saturday, because there isn’t the level of (familiarity) between the two programs. You’re going to have to match up against the guy across from you and you’re going to have to play ball.”

Limestone coach J.B. Clarke: (The key is) limiting our mistakes. II think Mercyhurst is clearly one of the most disciplined teams we’ve played. They play excellent defense, and they tend not to make mistakes. Coach Ryan puts their guys in a position to be successful, and when they’re not in those positions they tend not to take chances that they shouldn’t.
They’ve played a lot of real close one-goal, two-goal games. Obviously they’ve come out on top. I guess they’re 34-1 over the last two seasons. They’re clearly not making a lot of mistakes and really limiting their opponents to taking advantage of any situations that they aren’t comfortable with. I think the discipline that Mercyhurst plays with is as big an obstacle for us as any.

- Victor Fernandes