Game Info
Date: May 7, 2025
Time: 4:00 PM
Location: Northwell Stadium, Pleasantville, NY
Tickets (Fans are asked to purchase tickets prior to arriving at the stadium)
Watch (FloCollege subscription required)
Live Stats
About Molloy
- This is Molloy's first-ever appearance in the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament.  The Lions received the five-seed after capturing the program's first-ever East Coast Conference Championship on Saturday (May 3), defeating top-seeded Mercy 11-10 in overtime.Â
- The Lions enter the contest with a record of 15-4 overall and went 5-1 in leage play in 2025.
- Molloy spent 11 of the 13 weeks ranked in the top-20 in Division II by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. In the most recent rankings, the Lions clocked in at 11, the highest ranking to date.Â
- The team's 15 wins set a program-record for wins in a season, topping the 12 wins of the 2005 team that won the ECAC Championship.Â
- The Lions rank among the top-10 in Division II in nearly every statistical category including: ground balls (738, 2nd), scoring defense (6.53, 3rd), scoring margin (8.58, 4th), caused turnovers per game (12.21, 4th), points (458, 5th), assists (171, 6th), man-down defense (.795, 6th), saves (244, 7th), ground balls per game (38.84, 8th), clearing percentage (.906, 9th), scoring offense (15.11, 9th), and winning percentage (.789, 9th).Â
- Senior Christian Michaels enters the postseason ranked first in Division II with a .641 save percentage. He is fourth in the nation with a 6.75 goals-against average. The goalie was named the ECC Goalkeeper of the Year and earned the ECC Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament award following Saturday's win. In his career with Molloy, he leads all goalies with 857 saves, making 200 or more in each of his four seasons with the Lions.
- The offense has scored double digit points in each of the team's last six contests. They have reached double digit totals in 14 of 19 games. When reaching double digits, Molloy has a 13-1 record with the one loss coming in overtime.Â
- As a team, Molloy converts on 33% of man-up opportunities while holding opponents to just 20%. The Lions also have won over 60% of face-offs to date.
- The Lions received a program-record eight All-East Coast Conference selections and had three major award winners. Michaels (Goalie of the Year) and freshman Aiden Dinnigan (Rookie of the Year) were named to the First Team along with senior Luke Hickam and junior Brian Green. Senior Bryan Diliberto and juniors Jake Taylor, Thomas Kofod, and Rocco Hogan were all selected as Second Team. Head Coach Bill Dunn was tabbed the league's Coach of the Year.
Regarding Pace
- Pace enters the NCAA Tournament with a record of 11-4 overall and went 6-2 in Northeast-10 Conference play.
- The Setters were the three-seed in the NE10 Tournament and fell to two-seed Adelphi, 10-3, in the semifinal round.
- The team has spent the entirety of the 2025 season ranked inside the top-10 in Division II by the USILA, peaking at #4 in back-to-back weeks.Â
- Pace ranks in the top-20 in the nation in caused turnovers per game (11.87), ground balls (595), ground balls per game (39.67), scoring defense (9.33), scoring margin (3.73), turnovers per game (16.80), and winning percentage (0.733)
- The team had nine All-NE10 selections: Daniel Zabbia (First Team), Will Danowski (Second Team), Chris Butler (Second Team), James Mantione (Second Team), Declan Landers (Third Team), Colin Reese (Third Team), Branden Tello (Third Team), Matt Baldino (Rookie), and Dennis Hodge-Boccanfuso (Rookie).
- As a team, the Setters are converting on close to 40 percent of man-up opportunities, led by seven goals from Zabbia.Â
Last Time Out
- The teams met back in February with Pace taking an 11-9 victory.Â
- The Lions led for nearly 55 minutes with the contest being tied five different times. The Setters scored twice in the final six minutes and allowed just one shot on goal from Molloy in the final quarter to earn the victory.
- Landers led with seven points on four goals and three assists while Zabbia had four goals. Junior Tommy Corcoron topped the Lions with five points on four goals and one assist. Green and senior Noah Taylor each netted two goals.
- Junior Brandon Pazienza was dominant at the dot, going 12-of-18 on face-offs.
- Michaels made 12 saves in net while Jack Kern made eight for Pace.
Historically Speaking
- The Lions have a 4-4 record against the Setters with the last win coming in 2009.Â
- In recent years, Pace has gone 3-0. The score has gotten closer in each of the last three contests: 13-6 (2023), 19-13 (2024), and 11-9 (2025).
