SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Sophomore Mike McDonald (Latham, N.Y./Shaker) scored a career-high seven goals to lead No. 1 Le Moyne to a 22-3 win over Limestone in the NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse semifinals at the Thomas J. Niland Athletic Complex. The Dolphins (17-0) advance to the NCAA Division II Championship game, while Deep South Champion Limestone finishes its season at 11-7.
McDonald scored four times as Le Moyne jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opening quarter. Jason Longo (Cazenovia, N.Y./Cazenovia) opened the scoring with an extra-man goal, the first of five on the day for the Dolphins, 1:44 into the contest. McDonald scored the next three goals to lift Le Moyne to a 4-0 edge with 7:08 remaining in the first quarter. Longo, McDonald and sophomore Brian Cost (Camillus, N.Y./West Genesee) netted goals to close out the opening quarter.
Brad Partridge stopped Le Moyne's run with the first goal of the second quarter. He finished off a feed from Pat Beall to put the Saints on the board. The Dolphins scored the final two goals of the half to take a 9-1 lead into the intermission.
The Dolphins outscored their guests 9-1 in the third quarter to open up an 18-2 edge. Junior Ed Street (Manlius, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) scored three goals, while Cost and McDonald netted two each in the third quarter. Sophomore Tom Donahue (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee) set up three of Le Moyne's nine third quarter scores.
Le Moyne scored the game's final four goals to advance to its second national championship game in three seasons. Limestone will not advance to the national title game for the first time since 1999, snapping a string of six straight appearances.
Le Moyne outshot the Saints 52-18, picked up a 46-15 edge in ground balls and won 24-of-28 faceoffs. McDonald's seven goals equaled Brandon Spillett's national title game total of seven for the program's most in an NCAA tournament game. Street scored a career-best four goals and Cost added three. The 22 goals equaled the most Le Moyne scored in a game this season and the 19 goal margin was Le Moyne's third-largest of the season.
The Dolphins will meet Dowling for the national title on Sunday, May 28 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on College Sports Television (CSTV).
