Chadderdon Leads No. 2 Dolphins over No. 5 Saints

from staff reports

SEVERNA PARK, Md. — Matt Chadderdon scored five goals, including three in a 5-0 run to start the game, as the No. 2-ranked Le Moyne men's lacrosse team defeated No. 5-ranked Limestone, 8-6, in a showdown of NCAA Division II powers in Severna Park, Md.

Limestone outscored Le Moyne 3-0 in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough.

The Saints (2-1), down 5-0 in the second quarter, got on the board with 1:41 remaining in the half on a goal by Jake Rogalia (Liverpool, N.Y.) assisted by Riley Loewen (Burnaby, British Columbia).  They added another quick goal off ensuing faceoff, with Jeff Santo finding the back of the net with the assist from Mike Poerstel (Annapolis, Md.), pulling within 5-2.

But the Dolphins (2-0) answered. Chadderdon potted his fourth goal with just 23 seconds remaining in the first half, as Le Moyne led 6-2 at the intermission.

Limestone would pull within three goals for second time on the day at the 8:40 mark of the third quarter when Jackson Decker (Port Moody, British Columbia) zipped in a shot, the first of his two goals, cutting the deficit to 6-3. But Le Moyne responded with goals 10 seconds apart at the 4:34 and 4:24 marks in the period to push its advantage to 8-3 through three quarters.

The Saints tallied the first of their three scores in the fourth quarter with 7:40 to play when Poerstel finished a pass from Decker, getting Limestone to within 8-4. The Saints rallied in the final minute with goals from Loewen at the 0:30 mark and Decker as time expired.

The Dolphins opened the game by scoring the first five goals. Junior attackman Jack Harmatuk (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy/Syracuse U.) scored the first goal from the right side of the goal off a feed from classmate Jack Venditti (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker). Senior Mike Rabbitt (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) gave the Dolphins a two-goal advantage at the 1:50 mark of the first quarter with a goal from in front of the net off a pass from Harmatuk.

After winning the opening faceoff of the second quarter and missing a pair of shots, the Dolphins increased their lead to 3-0 on a blast from the right side by Chadderdon off a pass from Rabbitt. Just 41 seconds later, Chadderdon scored from the right wing off another feed from Rabbitt. Chadderdon completed his hat trick at the 6:23 mark with an unassisted goal from the left wing.

Limestone cut its deficit to 5-2 with a pair of goals in a span of 34 seconds. Jake Rogalia got the Saints on the board with a man-up goal with 1:41 remaining in the second quarter off a pass from Riley Loewen. After winning the ensuing face-off, Jeff Santo scored off a feed from Mike Poerstel with 1:07 to go before halftime. Chadderdon added his fourth goal of the quarter with 23 seconds left in the quarter to give the Dolphins a 6-2 advantage heading into the intermission.

The Saints scored the first goal of the third quarter to pull within 6-3, but could not get any closer until the game’s final seconds. Jackson Decker scored his first of two goals in the contest with 8:40
left in the quarter off a pass from Poerstel.

The Dolphins, who have won 35 consecutive regular season games, responded with two goals in a span of 10 seconds to push their lead back out to five goals. Junior midfielder Nick DiSarro (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) fired in a shot from in front of the goal off a pass from sophomore midfielder Mike Byrnes (Preble, N.Y./Tully) with 4:34 remaining in the stanza. Chadderdon picked up the ground ball off the ensuing faceoff and raced down the field to score his team’s final goal
of the game at the 4:24 mark.

After a scoring drought of over 12 minutes, Limestone scored its first of three fourth-quarter tallies. Poerstel took a pass from Decker at the top of the box and found the back of the net with 7:09 left in the game. Following a Le Moyne turnover with under one minute left in play, Loewen scored from in front of the goal with 20 seconds remaining. Decker delivered the game’s final score by finding the back of the net with five seconds left after Le Moyne was called for a violation on the
faceoff following Loewen’s goal.

Freshman goalkeeper Jeff White (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius HS) made eight saves in between the pipes for the Dolphins. Steve Gartelman was credited with 10 saves for the Saints.

Le Moyne (2-0), which has won five straight matchups against the Saints, remains on the road over the College’s Spring Break for a game against Catawba on Thursday, March 11 at 4:00 p.m. on the campus of Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida.