Box Score ST. DAVIDS (PA) – Delaware Valley University's trip to the postseason in just its second year of competition came to an end in the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom semifinals as the fourth-seeded Aggies dropped a 14-6 decision at four-time defending champion Eastern University.
DelVal, which went 5-8 (1-5 MAC Freedom) in its inaugural season, finished the 2016 campaign with an 8-8 overall mark. Its 4-3 record in league play had them tied for third in the standings. Seven Aggies were named to the all-MAC Freedom Team and they also garnered two special awards in the Defensive Player of the Year (
Danny Smith) and the Rookie of the Year (
PJ Rafferty).
For the top-seeded Eagles, they improved to 13-5 and they will host the winner of the DeSales University/Misericordia University match-up (7:00 pm start) for the MAC Freedom Championship Game on Saturday, May 7.
"It was a great year and I couldn't be more proud," Aggie head coach
Gary Mercadante said. "We made incredible strides in our second year and the potential of this group is endless. We have to work even harder in the offseason and come back ready to go for 2017."
DelVal had the first big opportunity of the game as
Nick Shendge received a pass near the goal, but his shot was stopped by all-conference goalkeeper Jameal Hadeed. Eleven seconds later, the Eagles had a shot and a goal as Jake Billera found the back of the net.
Eastern then added two goals in the next 46 seconds with tallies by Mark Buannic and Brian Mizell. The Aggies'
Austin Sensenig hit the post on the ensuing possession and they then found themselves down a man. Eastern failed on that opportunity as
Troy Darpino forced a turnover later in the possession.
Billera added a goal in the final minute of the opening quarter and the Eagles notched two more in a 52-second span early in the second for a 6-0 advantage. DelVal then got on the scoreboard with 10:22 remaining in the first half as
Alex Manderack got loose on the left side and put one past Hadeed.
Eastern ended the stanza with goals from Buannic and Tim Lamb for an 8-1 lead at the break. The Eagles had a 19-7 advantage in shots and were perfect on all 10 of their clearing attempts. The Aggies had 14 turnovers compared to nine by Eastern.
Matt Brady got the Aggies off to a good start in the second half as his low shot found the net just 1:48 into the stanza. DelVal gained possession on the next faceoff, but they turned it over and Eastern converted it into a goal. Lamb made it 10-2 before the Aggies got a man-up opportunity. They wasted no time to convert into a goal as Rafferty found Shendge in front for the score with 10:55 left in the third.
Lamb then played a part in Eastern's next three goals with two tallies and a helper to increase the advantage to 13-3. It was 14-3 when the Aggies struck for the final three goals of the game, the lone tallies in the fourth quarter. Shendge and Rafferty teamed up again with 4:43 remaining. They then went a man up and Sensenig scored off a feed from Manderack just 36 seconds later.
Tyler Roberto ended the scoring with just 2.1 seconds left for the 14-6 final.
Eastern held a 35-23 advantage in shots for the game and finished 21-for-23 in clear attempts. DelVal won 14 of the 23 faceoffs and had a 32-28 edge in ground balls. Lamb led the Eagles with four goals and two assists while Buannic had three goals. Hadeed finished with nine saves.
For DelVal, Shendge had two goals while Manderack (goal, assist) and Rafferty (two assists) also had two-point showings. Smith finished with seven ground balls and five caused turnovers while
Matt Tordone had the 14 faceoff wins.
Jon Fogarty made nine saves in net.
