SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Mike McDonald turned in a nine-point performance and became the fifth member of the Le Moyne College men's lacrosse 200-point club as Le Moyne College dropped So. New Hampshire University, 21-7, in Northeast-10 Conference men's lacrosse action at the Thomas J. Niland Athletic Complex. The 21 goals scored by the Dolphins (11-0, 8-0 NE-10), ranked No. 1 in the most recent USILA Division II Poll, were a season-high. The Penmen (5-5, 4-4 NE-10) were led by Mike Ball's game-high five goals.
After Ball scored the game's first goal for the Penmen, the Dolphins answered with an 11-goal attack. McDonald had a hand in seven first-half goals as Le Moyne opened up a 12-3 lead by halftime. Brian Cost scored all three of his goals in the game's first 30 minutes and Alex Bily added a pair of first-half tallies.
Brian Welch and Jack Venditti each scored two goals in the second half for Le Moyne. The Dolphins' youth emerged in the second half as freshmen Venditti, Matt Chadderdon and Mark Bowler accounted for four of the team's nine second-half goals.
At the 1:59 of the third quarter, McDonald rocketed in his ninth point of the game and the 200th of his career. With 200 career points, he joins Jim Nee '99 (247), Greg Downey '94 (223), Ryan Spillett '03 (220) and Jeff Evanchak '94 (209) in the program's exclusive club.
Twelve Dolphins picked up points on the day. Goals were sent in by McDonald (4), Bily (3), Cost (3), Welch (3), Venditti (2), Chadderdon (2), Keith Vetter (1), Nick Gatto (1), Markus Fallico (1) and Bowler (1). McDonald assisted on five Le Moyne scores and Bily finished with a pair of assists. Cost, Vetter, Jakido Hanna and Bob McIver each handed out one assist. McDonald's nine-point outburst was the third-best single-game point performance in program history. Brandon Spillett '05 was the last Dolphin to accumulate nine points in a single game when he did it twice in 2004.
Le Moyne netminder Doug McIver collected six saves, allowing five goals over three-plus quarters of work. So. New Hampshire goalies Eric Hunst and Mickey Hover combined for eight saves on the afternoon.
The Dolphin senior class, made up of Gatto, Bily, Cost, McDonald, Pete Gibbons, Tom Donahue, Brad Wolken, Mike McLaughlin, Andrew Carducci and Mike Malone, played in its final regular season home game. Over the last four years, the class sports a 58-3 record and stakes claim to two Division II National Championships.
Le Moyne travels to Bentley and Franklin Pierce for a pair of Northeast-10 Conference games next weekend to wrap up its regular season schedule. Saturday's game at Bentley is slated for a 1 p.m. start. Sunday's contest at Franklin Pierce is set for noon.
Michael Bersani - Sports Information Assistant
