April 30, 2010
Box Score
WEST POINT, N.Y. - The third-seeded Lafayette men's lacrosse team capped off one of the most memorable years in program history on Friday evening, falling to second-seeded Navy 11-9 in the Patriot League semifinals.
The Leopards end a year that saw numerous firsts for the program, including defeating two nationally-ranked teams, as well as finding themselves in the top-20 for eight consecutive weeks.
It took Lafayette a mere 2:30 to score the game's first goal as Kevin Dunbar found Tom Perini with 12:29 on the clock for the 1-0 Leopard lead.
The defenses kept both teams off the scoreboard for the next seven-plus minutes until Navy evened the contest at one-all on a Patrick Moran goal with five minutes left in the first quarter.
The Leopards responded by netting two unanswered goals to close out the quarter. The first was an unassisted Steve Serling score that was followed by Matt Mersky's goal with 31 seconds remaining that made it 3-1 Lafayette as the opening period came to a close.
Navy's Ryan O'Leary scored the first goal of the second quarter with 11:13 on the clock but from that point on, it was all Leopards. Serling netted his second goal less than a minute later for the 4-2 Lafayette advantage. Mersky and Serling teamed up with 6:26 left in the half when Serling fed the ball to Mersky, who found the back of the net for the second time.
With 2:24 on the clock, Perini capped off the first-half scoring on an assist from Colin Serling and the Leopards took the 6-2 lead into halftime.
The second half started out as a completely different ballgame, partly due to the Leopards missing Steve Serling with an injury sustained in the first half. The Midshipmen came out of the locker room ready to make it a game.
Andy Warner scored back-to-back goals within the first two minutes of the second half action, quickly making it a two-goal contest (6-4).
The Leopards then had a costly slip on defense, allowing a team goal and found themselves ahead by only one with more than 24 minutes still to play.
With Lafayette playing without Stefan Bauer, the team's leader in assists, with a head injury of his own, Navy rattled off two more goals to take its first lead of the game, 7-6, with more than seven minutes to play in the third quarter.
With just under two minutes remaining in the quarter, Colin Serling finally snapped Lafayette's scoring drought with an unassisted, game-tying tally for a seven-all score.
The Midshipmen controlled the fourth quarter from there, scoring the first three goals of the final 15 minutes.
In a microcosm of the entire season, the Leopards turned to its senior class to find one last burst. Two goals from Mersky and crucial saves from senior goalkeeper Vinny DePasquale closed the Navy lead back to one (10-9) with 38 seconds remaining in regulation.
However, the Mids gained possession of the ensuing face-off and with Lafayette doubling the ball, put the game away with an insurance goal.
Senior Stewart Inman led the Leopards with five groundballs and, along with teammate Paul Hammer, two caused turnovers on the evening.
Postgame Notes:
2010 Patriot League Coach of the Year Terry Mangan and Offensive Player of the Year Steve Serling were both recognized before the opening face-off of the game.
The game was broadcasted live on national television by CBS College Sports.
Leopards were 5-1 on the road this season, 6-0 when leading at halftime before Friday's outcome.
Navy has lost only one Patriot League Tournament game since joining the league in 2004. The Midshipmen move on to play rival Army on Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Patriot League Championship.
