BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Apr. 11, 2015) - On Saturday, the No. 7/7 LIU Post men's lacrosse team won a back-and-forth battle against No. 4/4 NYIT, 12-10, in a key East Coast Conference showdown at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium.

Trailing 2-1 late in the first quarter, senior attackman Chris Caiazza (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) and junior attackman Matty Beccaris (North Babylon, N.Y.) struck in a span of 2:25 to give the Pioneers (10-2, 6-0 ECC) a one-goal lead at the 4:35 mark.

In the second quarter, however, the Bears netted four of the first five goals to go back in front (6-4) with 5:03 remaining. LIU Post managed to close the gap to a single goal at the half though, as junior attackman Matt Bellando (Miami, Fla.) found the back of the cage on a Ryan Slane (North Babylon, N.Y.) feed in the last minute-plus to make it a 6-5 game.

NYIT (8-2, 5-1 ECC) re-claimed its two-goal advantage nearly two minutes into the third quarter, before the green and gold notched three unanswered goals to re-take the lead. Bellando and Caiazza scored only 10 seconds apart to put the hosts ahead.

Late in the fourth quarter, the Bears again led by a goal (10-9), but were unable to stave off the furious Pioneer comeback. Senior midfielder Connor Drost (Wading RIver, N.Y.) and junior midfielder Anthony Berardis (Mahopac, N.Y.) beat NYIT sophomore goaltender Alex Seltzer (Plainview, N.Y.), who made nine saves on the afternoon,  in a 30-second stint to grab the one-goal advantage.

In the last five minutes of regulation, the LIU Post defense held its opposition at bay, causing three turnovers, while Slane fired a shot into the empty cage with 16 seconds left to seal the victory.

Slane finished with a game-high five points (3 G, 2 A) off the bench. Bellando notched three goals. Beccaris tallied two goals and an assist for a three-point day. Caiazza added a pair of goals, as well.

Senior defenseman Dan Jeannotte (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) won 15-of-22 faceoffs (68.1 percent) and scooped up three ground balls. Fellow senior defenseman Matt Scalera (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) had a game-high seven ground balls and three caused turnovers.

Head Coach John Jez and the Pioneers will now wrap up the regular season with road games on back-to-back Saturdays. They will first square off with ECC rival Dowling next Saturday (Apr. 18) at 1 p.m. in Brookhaven.