Men's Lacrosse Falls Short at No. 9 Mercy, 11-8

4/12/2017 11:16:00 PM

Box Score

DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 12, 2017) - On Wednesday, the LIU Post men's lacrosse team suffered an 11-8 defeat to No. 9 Mercy College in an East Coast Conference tilt at Mercy Field in Dobbs Ferry.

Trailing 5-2 at the half, the Pioneers (5-6, 2-3 ECC) notched three unanswered goals in the third quarter to tie the game at 5-all with 7:53 left.

Sophomore midfielder Steven Frank (Hauppauge, N.Y.) and freshman midfielder Dan Foley (Carmel, N.Y.) scored just 1:48 apart to pull the visitors within a goal at 5-4.

Sophomore attackman/midfielder Frank Ranfone (Guilford, Conn.) buried the game-tying goal to complete the comeback.

The Mavericks (10-2, 6-0 ECC) responded though with a three-goal run of their own to grab an 8-5 lead at the 11:30 mark of the fourth quarter.

The green and gold then rallied again, as Foley and Frank each found the back of the cage to trim the deficit to 8-7 with 7:55 remaining.

However, a subsequent delay of game penalty to Ranfone ultimately led to a Bobby Chillianis (Bethpage, N.Y.) man-up goal that clinched the victory for Mercy.

Foley finished with a game-high-tying four points (2 G, 2 A) and totaled five ground balls. Frank collected two goals and an assist for three points. Ranfone notched a pair of tallies.

Between the pipes, senior goalie Matthew Liantonio (Miller Place, N.Y.) made seven saves for the Pioneers. Sophomore cageminder Ryan Gibbons (Seaford, N.Y.) stopped 10 shots for the Mavericks.

For the game, LIU Post held a 35-26 edge in shots and a 27-20 advantage in ground balls. It also won 14-of-23 (60.8 percent) faceoffs and converted 12-of-13 (92.3 percent) clear attempts.

Senior midfielder Anthony Galeotafiore (Wantagh, N.Y.) won 7-of-10 faceoffs and four ground balls in the contest, while sophomore midfielder Connor Farrell (Holtsville, N.Y.) was 7-of-13 on draws and scooped up two ground balls.

Head Coach John Jez and the Pioneers return to action next Wednesday (Apr. 19), when they travel to Waterbury, Conn. to take on non-conference foe Post University at 3 p.m.