Box Score ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Mar. 12, 2016) – The unbeaten streak for the No. 13 Molloy College men's lacrosse team ended on Saturday (Mar. 12) when the Lions could not complete a six-goal comeback in falling to tenth-ranked LIU Post by a final score of 9-7 at John A. Darcy Field in Rockville Centre.
LIU Post (4-2, 2-0 ECC) held the maroon and white off the scoreboard in the first quarter, grabbing a 2-0 lead after 15 minutes. The Pioneers outshot Molloy (5-1, 1-1 ECC) by a 9-5 margin, but the disadvantage for the host Lions was as much as eight shots as the green and gold controlled the tempo and possession for much of the first frame. North Babylon natives and seniors Matty Beccaris and Ryan Slane had the goals for the Pioneers in the opening quarter. Molloy opened the second quarter with offensive success, as junior Jon Camposa (Syosset, N.Y.) scored his 11th goal of the season just 50 seconds into the stanza. The Lions, though, could not muster up more offense over the next 12 minutes as LIU Post scored three straight goals from three different players: Matt Bellando (Miami, Fla.), Dylan Harned (Selden, N.Y.) and Jeremy Morgan (Ridge, N.Y.). The maroon and white added a man-up marker as senior Peter Clark (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) scored at a near-zero angle to beat Pioneers keeper Matthew Liantonio (Miller Place, N.Y.) and bring his side back within three goals. Slane answered on the other end with an artistic marker, beating goalie Ryan Toomey (Hicksville, N.Y.) with a behind-the-back and over-the-shoulder snipe to send the No. 10 Pioneers into the halftime break up 6-2 in Rockville Centre.
Molloy started the second half much like the squad started the first, and that was not a good sign as the Lions were once again held scoreless in a frame of the contest. Slane and Harned tallied goals for the green and gold, as the Pio's went into the fourth quarter ahead 8-2. The spirited rally for the maroon and white started then as Casey Kelly (Rockville Centre, N.Y.), Kevin Teresky (South Huntington, N.Y.) and Camposa scored goals in succession to cut the visitors' edge to three goals at 8-5 with under nine-and-a-half minutes remaining in the contest. LIU Post was able to curtail the momentum by holding the ball in the attacking end, and Morgan rifled an EMO goal over the shoulder of Toomey to get the lead back to four goals at 9-5. The Lions valiantly tried to fight back as Connor Slane (North Babylon, N.Y.) and Austin Valenti (Baldwin, N.Y.) scored to cut the margin back to two, but there was just not enough time left for Molloy to complete the epic comeback.
Camposa had a team-high two goals and three points, while Toomey made 13 saves in cage for the maroon and white. Junior middie Frank Sciulla (Rocky Point, N.Y.) went just 7-for-19 on face-offs and sophomore long-pole Zach Antonette (Seaford, N.Y.) had four caused turnovers in the losing effort.
The Lions now head to the road for four straight contests, beginning on Wednesday (Mar. 16) when the maroon and white go to Albany to play the Golden Knights of Saint Rose at 3:30 p.m. at the Christian Plumeri Sports Complex.
