ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Mercy Mavericks used a 6-1 run to close the first quarter to build an early 7-2 lead and defeated Roberts Wesleyan College 27-15 in an East Coast Conference men's lacrosse game on Saturday.
The loss was the first for the Redhawks (10-3, 4-1 ECC) in conference play this season. Mercy (11-1, 5-0) is currently ranked fifth in NCAA Division II.
"They are a really good team," Roberts coach Rocky Delfino said. "They haven't won the conference for the last three years for nothing."
Roberts opened the second quarter on a 3-1 run to pull within 8-5, but the Mavericks opened a 12-8 lead at the half an pulled away.
Senior Hunter Lemieux led Roberts with five goals and one assist while junior Dan Doviak added three goals and one assist.
"We definitely could have played better on both sides of the ball," Lemieux said. "We've just got to play better all-around."
Sophomore Jordon Deats added two goals and an assist and senior Nate Maloney also scored twice for the Redhawks. Ryan Prine, Reid Jackowski and Jonathon Deats also scored for Roberts. Gavin Marsh added three assists and Jackowski had two.
Mercy won 24 of 45 face-offs and held a 40-27 advantage in shots on goal.
Aidan Sheehan made 13 saves for Roberts.
The Redhawks wrap up the regular season at Molloy College on Saturday, April 30.
A win by the Redhawks would secure a home game in the ECC Tournament.
"This is a resilient group," Roberts senior defenseman Anthony Diamico said. "This group has a ton of heart and I know that we are not going to take this lightly. We will use this to fuel the fire to find the things that were lacking today."