The 2014 NEC Men’s Lacrosse Tournament opened with a double-overtime thriller that saw top-seeded Saint Joseph’s fall to No. 4 Hobart, 10-9. With 2:22 remaining in the second extra session, Jake McHenry scored his second goal of the game to send the Statesmen to the NEC Championship Game in their first season as a league member. Hobart will face 2013 conference champion Bryant in Saturday’s title tilt, the winner of which will receive the NEC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Bryant, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, scored the first five goals of Thursday’s second semifinal contest and went on to post a wire-to-wire victory over No. 3 Sacred Heart. Two-time NEC Player of the Year Kevin Massa won 20 of 22 faceoff opportunities for the Bulldogs.


Semifinal #1
#4 Hobart 10, #1 Saint Joseph's 9 (2OT)

Box Score

Senior attacker Jake McHenry (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) scored his second goal of the game in the second overtime session to give fourth-seeded Hobart a 10-9 victory over top-seeded Saint Joseph’s Thursday evening at Sweeney Field.
 
The Statesmen improve to 5-9 and will face No. 2 Bryant in the NEC final on Saturday, May 4, at 1:00 pm.
 
Saint Joseph’s ends the season 11-4 after suffering their first conference loss all season.
 
A big reason why the Statesmen won the game was the play of senior goalkeeper Peter Zonino (Wayne, Pa./Conestoga) as he had 17 saves in the game. Eight of those saves came in the fourth period and first overtime session.
 
McHenry helped his team earned a berth in the championship game on Sunday when he beat freshman T.J. Jones (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) with a bullet of a shot just 2:22 left to play in the second overtime.
 
The Statesmen were down 9-8 with 11 seconds left in regulation when McHenry fed teammate Taylor Vanderbeek (Warren, N.J./Immaculata) for the game-tying man up goal.
 
Saint Joseph’s opened up with a 4-1 lead in the first quarter with freshman attacker Michael Rastivo (South Setauket, N.Y./Choate Rosemary Hall) tallying three of his game-high five goals. The Hawks would hold the lead, never going up by more than three goals and leading 7-4 at halftime.
 
Then in the second half, Rastivo would tally two more goals giving the Hawks an 8-6 lead with 6:37 left in the third period of play. It was a back and forth affair in the second half, especially in the fourth period.  Cooper Stefaniak (Lancaster, N.Y./St. Francis) tied the game for Hobart with 5:31 left to play in regulation, but the 2014 NEC Offensive Player of the Year Ryan McGee (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) answered back for the Hawks and gave them a 9-8 lead with 2:06 left to play in regulation.
 
For the Hawks, Rastivo led all scorers with five goals in the game while teammates McGee, Mike Dougherty (Malvern, Pa./Malvern Prep), Ray Vandegrift (Jenkintown, Pa./William Penn Charter) and Pat Swanick (Haverford, Pa./St. Joseph’s Prep) each tallied one goal apiece.
 
The Statesmen had eight different players tally at least one goal apiece in the contest, includingsenior Cam Stone (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) and Brendan Saylor (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport).






Semifinal #2
#2 Bryant 12, #3 Sacred Heart 8

Box Score

The Bulldogs look to defend their NEC Championship after defeating the Pioneers by a final score of 12-8, advancing to the championship match on Saturday, May 3, at 1 pm on Sweeney Field.
 
With the win the Bulldogs improve to 13-4 overall and will compete against fourth-seeded Hobart, who defeated top-seed Saint Joseph’s 10-9 in double overtime earlier in the day while Sacred Heart falls to 6-10 overall.
 
The Bulldogs opened the game up on a 4-0 run in the first 10 minutes of the game after four different Bulldogs, including 2014 NEC Rookie of the Year Tucker James (Essex Fells, N.J./Bergen Catholic), each scored a goal. Dan Sipperly (Greenwich, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) and teammate Shane Morrell (Glen Mills, Pa./Episcopal Academy) each led all scorers with three goals apiece.
 
The Pioneers were able to finish the game on a 4-1 run before play was delayed due to a thunderstorm. For Sacred Heart sophomore Alex Dodge (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West), seniors Mike Mawdsley (Innisfil, Ontario/Nouvelle-Alliance) and Cody Marquis (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) each had two goals apiece in the game.
 
For Bryant, 2014 NEC Defensive Player of the Year Gunnar Waldt (Freeland, Md./Saint Paul’s School) made seven saves in a full game effort on Thursday. 2014 NEC Player of the Year Kevin Massa (Huntington, N.Y./Elwood John Glenn) won 20 of 21 faceoffs in the game.
 
Overall, Bryant outshot Sacred Heart barely 30-27 and held a 38-14 advantage in ground balls.