DALLAS, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley men's lacrosse team got off to a great start, scoring the first five goals of the game, in a 12-7 victory at Misericordia University on a rainy Saturday afternoon on Mangelsdorf Field in Dallas. The victory clinched a berth in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom Championship as the fourth seed.
 
LVC (13-4, 5-2 MAC Freedom) finished in a three-way tie for second place in the conference standings but will be the fourth seed in the conference tournament due to the tiebreaker of goal differential between the tied teams. The win was LVC's program-record 13th of the season and the first-ever against Misericordia in eight games.
 
Rowan Myers put the Dutchmen up a little over a minute into the game with a goal off an assist by Ryan Grace. Two minutes later, Brayden Brown scored his first goal of the game off a pass from Wyatt Shamer to make it 2-0. Connor Rowe won the next faceoff, picked up the ground ball, and made his way to the goal for his sixth score of the year. LVC kept the pressure on with three shots that sailed off target. Brown and Sean Poole had shots saved. Poole added to the lead with a goal off an assist by Hayden Carling to push the advantage to 4-0 with 3:36 on the clock. The senior added another goal with just over a minute to play in the quarter off an assist by Brown. The Cougars got on the board to make the score 5-1 after the first period on a goal with 17 seconds left.
 
Rowe won the opening faceoff of the second quarter, which led to a Carling shot that was saved. Poole and Brown had shots saved as the Dutchmen continued to attack the crease. The Cougars responded with a goal to cut the lead to three. LVC answered right back as Brown scored for the second time to push the advantage back up to four with nine minutes left in the half. The Dutchmen added another goal four minutes later as Grace connected with Jacob Olson for the junior's ninth goal of the year. Misericordia used a strong offensive attack over the final five minutes as they put three shots off target, one shot hit the post, and then Kellen Markley made a big save in the final 15 seconds to keep the score at 7-2 going into the break.
 
Misericordia came out firing to begin the second half, cutting the deficit to three with a pair of goals in the first six minutes. The Dutchmen took advantage of a pair of penalties as Poole scored a man-up goal off an assist by Sam Spagnuolo to get the lead to 8-4. The Cougars scored a man-up goal of their own a few minutes later that brought the difference back down to three goals. Dylan Rinyak had a shot saved before Shamer hit the post, and then had a shot saved. The Dutchmen forced two failed clears in a row while Rinyak and Spagnuolo had shots saved in the final minute. Misericordia was called for a penalty in the closing seconds of the quarter with LVC leading 8-5.
 
Grace wasted little time to begin the scoring in the fourth quarter as he scored 28 seconds into the period off a pass from Rinyak. The Cougars countered with a goal two minutes later. Poole responded with his fourth goal of the game to put the Dutchmen up by four with 10 minutes on the clock. Myers had the assist on the goal. Misericordia took advantage of a penalty by the Dutchmen, scoring a man-up goal with 6:16 left that made it 10-7. Myers hit the post before Brown gave the Dutchmen some extra breathing room on his third goal of the game with just over two minutes left. Carling left no doubt in the results with a goal 30 seconds later to set the final score.
 
Inside the Box

• The Dutchmen clinched the team's first postseason berth since playing in the 2021 MAC Commonwealth quarterfinals. It is the first time the program qualified for a conference tournament since 2018, when they played in the MAC Commonwealth play-in game for the fourth season in a row.
• The win was also the program's first-ever over Misericordia in eight meetings dating back to 2010. The 12 goals are the most LVC has scored in a game during the series.
• Poole led the offense with four goals on 10 shots. He also picked up three ground balls. The senior recorded his seventh hat trick of the year.
• Brown also had four points on three goals and one assist. The first-year took nine shots and had three ground balls. Brown recorded his second career hat trick.
• Grace continued his point streak with one goal and two assists. The sophomore has recorded at least one point in every game but one this season.
• Carling and Myers recorded a goal and an assist apiece. Olson scored a goal on two shots and had one ground ball.
• Rowe was fantastic on faceoffs with 17 wins in 21 attempts, 10 ground balls, and one goal.
• Shamer, Rinyak, and Spagnuolo recorded an assist each.
• The Dutchmen had a 52-27 shot advantage and a 40-16 advantage in ground balls.

Up Next
LVC will take on top-seeded and nationally ranked Stevens Institute of Technology on Wednesday evening in the MAC Freedom semifinals. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the DeBaun Complex in Hoboken, New Jersey.

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