Morrisville State men advance to ECAC semis with 18-9 victory over Medaille

Fourth seed Morrisville State men's lacrosse team posted a 18-9 victory over fifth seed Medaille College in the quarterfinal round of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Mid-Atlantic Championship Tournament Wednesday afternoon in Morrisville, advancing to the semi-final round Saturday.



Morrisville State (11-4) will face top seed McDaniel College (9-7) Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. face-off in Westminster, Maryland.



Senior midfielder Devin Maxwell (Culver City, Cali.) led the Mustang charge posting a collegiate single game best, seven goals, while teammates Jack Martocello (Miller Place, N.Y.) and Jeremy Beresovoy (Lafayette, N.Y.) each posted seven points in the victory. Martocello netted three scores and assisted another four, while Beresovoy tallied four goals and assisted three. Dean Priest (Hinesburg, Vt.) rounded out top scoring with two goals and two assists.



Michael Hinchey (Lake Katrine, N.Y.) turned away six in the victory between the pipes, as Morrisville State dominated the offensive attack with the 59-25 advantage in shots.



Cameron Ferguson (Pickering, Ontario) led the Medaille efforts with three goals and an assist, while teammate Drew Belica (Orchard Park, N.Y.) added two scores and assisted another two. Brock Levick (Newmarket, Ontario) rounded out top scoring, netting two goals and assisting one for the Mavericks.



Sean Kettles (Churchville, N.Y.) recorded 18 saves in the loss for Medaille as they conclude the 2012 season with an 8-8 overall record.



Morrisville State opened the contest with three straight tallies before playing to a back-and-forth quarter for the remainder of the first to take the 5-3 lead into the second.



Tom Longland (Dunnville, Ontario) gave Morrisville State a three goal lead early on in the second quarter with a score off the face-off win, and the defense held off Medaille until the 5:48 mark when Levick broke the scoring drought for the Mavericks a with a tally from Ferguson. The Mustangs then added two more scores in the final four minutes of the contest, claiming the 8-4 advantage at the half.



In the third, Maxwell initiated the Mustang attack with an early score, before rattling off four more tallies in the quarter as Morrisville State held Medaille to just two tallies, posting the 14-6 advantage heading into the final frame.



Beresovoy extended the Mustang lead to nine at the 10:45 mark before Medaille attempted to put together a comeback attempt with two straight scores from Belica, but the Maverick efforts fell short as Morrisville State capped off the contest with the final two goals of the day.



Morrisville State won the ground ball battle 35-24 and dominated the face-offs, with Joe Chazen (Brooklyn, N.Y.) winning 19-of-28, and forced 35 Maverick turnovers on the day, including 12 in the final quarter.