Baltimore, Md. – Most Outstanding Player Eddie Plompen scored four goals, including three in the fourth quarter, and dished out an assist to lead #1-ranked C.W. Post to a 14-9 win over the third-ranked Le Moyne College men's lacrosse team in the NCAA Division II National Championship on Sunday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium in front of a crowd of 20,734.
The Pioneers, who defeated the Dolphins, 8-7, in last year's National Championship game, scored the game's first three goals. Sophomore Keith Rodriguez got C.W. Post on the board at the 12:09 mark with an unassisted tally. Joe Meo, who scored three times on the afternoon, followed 44 seconds later. Plompen capped the run by finishing off a pass on the crease from Brad DeSouza with 9:51 remaining in the opening quarter.
After C.W. Post goalkeeper Mike Giordano made a save on Le Moyne's first offensive possession of the game with just over eight minutes left in the quarter, the Dolphins caused a turnover on C.W. Post's clear attempt. Junior attackman Jack Harmatuk (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy/Syracuse U.) got the Dolphins on the board one and one-half minutes later with an unassisted goal.
The Pioneers extended their lead back to three goals when Rodriguez scored unassisted at the 5:11 mark. After Le Moyne won the ensuing face-off, senior midfielder Mike Rabbitt (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) finished off a pass from Harmatuk to get the Dolphins back within two. Following a failed clear by the Pioneers with 1:11 left in the quarter, sophomore midfielder Taylor Brooks (Cypress, Texas/Cy-Fair) rolled around the goal to pull the Dolphins within a goal with 34 seconds remaining. C.W. Post closed out the quarter as Mike Cama won the ensuing face-off and scored four seconds later.
Le Moyne scored five unanswered goals in the second quarter to take an 8-5 lead into the intermission. Harmatuk, whose first quarter goal marked the 32nd consecutive game in which he scored a goal, tallied the first goal of the streak at the 12:45 mark. Junior attackman Jack Venditti (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) followed 42 seconds later by recording a man-up goal off an assist from sophomore midfielder Mike Byrnes (Preble, N.Y./Tully). USILA Player and Midfielder of the Year Matt Chadderdon (Auburn, N.Y./Auburn) scored unassisted 38 seconds later to give the Dolphins the lead. Junior attackman Vinnie Alexander (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill/Onondaga C.C.) extended Le Moyne's lead to two goals by scoring high into the back of the net with 6:36 to go. Harmatuk closed out the run by scoring from the left side of the goal at the 3:24 mark.
C.W. Post answered back in the second half with a 5-0 run of its own over the 17:06. Meo snapped a Pioneer scoreless streak of 18:27 by converting a pass from Justin Patterson 2:57 into the half. Patterson pulled the Pioneers within a goal with 6:13 left in the quarter by finishing off a pass from Nick Coric. Meo evened the game at eight apiece by scoring inside the near post with 27 seconds left in the stanza off a feed from Plompen. Only 24 seconds later, Coric came around from behind the goal and beat freshman goalkeeper Jeff White (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius HS) low. Just over two minutes into the final quarter, Plompen scored from in front of the goal off a pass from Coric to put C.W. Post ahead 10-8.
The Dolphins, who lost when leading at the half for the first time in eight NCAA tournament games, snapped a scoring drought of 24 minutes and 10 seconds as Alexander worked around a pick by Rabbitt and fired a low shot into the back of the net.
The Pioneers, who posted the largest comeback in a Division II Championship final, closed out the game by scoring the final four goals to claim the third national championship in the program's history. Following a save by Giordano after the Dolphins won the face-off after Alexander's goal, the Pioneers cleared the ball and held possession before Mike Messina charged from the right side of the goal and scored into the lower left corner at the 7:53 mark. Just over a minute later, Patterson weaved a pass through the Le Moyne defense to Plompen, who scored from the right crease. Rodriguez completed his hat trick by beating his defender around the goal and scoring high into the net. Plompen, who scored the game-tying and game-winning goals in C.W. Post's 9-8 semifinal win over Dowling, finished the scoring by scoring into an empty net off a pass from Coric.
Le Moyne (15-2), which was appearing in the Championship game for the fifth consecutive season, allowed its most goals since a 16-11 loss to New York Tech in the 2008 National Championship game, a span of 34 games. The senior class completed its career with an overall record of 61-7, including one national championship, four championship game appearances and two Northeast-10 Conference championship titles.
