Syracuse, N.Y. – Senior attackman Kevin Kelly (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) netted five goals and classmate Alex Krawec (Kirkville, N.Y./East Syracuse-Minoa/Onondaga C.C.) made 13 saves to lead the third-ranked and top-seeded Le Moyne College men's lacrosse team to a 16-8 victory over sixth-ranked and fourth-seeded LIU Post on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Championships at Ted Grant Field.

The Dolphins advance to the NCAA semifinals for the 12th time in the last 14 years (10th time as host) and will host fourth-ranked and third-seeded Merrimack College on Saturday at Ted Grant Field at 12:00 p.m.

The Dolphins scored the game's first three goals over the opening 10 minutes. On a clearing attempt by the Pioneers, Kelly snagged the ball out of the air and fired in his first goal of the contest with 11:10 remaining. Just over four minutes later, junior attackman Mike Jenkins (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) scored from the crease off a pass from graduate student midfielder Matt Taylor (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius/Cornell). Senior midfielder Joe Corapi (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) gave the Dolphins a 3-0 lead with 5:07 left after taking a pass from Jenkins in an extra-man situation. With the marker, Corapi broke the program's man-up goals record of 11 set by Jason Longo '08 during the 2006 campaign.

LIU Post, which defeated the Dolphins, 9-3, in the first round last year, broke through with 1:16 left in the quarter as Chris Caiazza netted an unassisted goal.

The Dolphins took a 4-1 lead with 35 seconds left in the quarter as junior attackman Logan Thomas (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool/Onondaga C.C.) intercepted a clearing pass by LIU Post goalkeeper Adam Winne and then deposited the ball into the back of the net for his 20th goal of the season.

The Pioneers scored three of the four goals in the second quarter to get within 5-4 at the intermission. Anthony Berardis trimmed Le Moyne's lead to 4-2 with an unassisted goal with 14:09 left. After Taylor tallied his 31st goal of the campaign with 13:22 remaining, Matt Bellando picked up a loose ball on a failed Le Moyne clear and put it into the goal with 10:25 to go to make it a two-goal game again. Matty Beccaris pulled LIU Post within one with 3:39 remaining after collecting an errant shot on the left edge of the crease.

Le Moyne blew the game open with the first six goals of the third quarter, three of which came over the opening 2:44. Taylor ignited the run with an unassisted tally 53 seconds into the period. Only 44 seconds later, junior midfielder Mike Fiorini (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) rifled home his eighth goal of the year. Corapi followed with his second goal of the day with 12:16 left to force an LIU Post timeout.

After almost five minutes of scoreless play, Kelly scored with 7:28 left after taking a pass from Fiorini. Kelly picked up his third goal of the contest with 3:29 remaining after collecting a feed from Taylor. Just 78 seconds later, Kelly finished off a pass from Jenkins for an 11-4 lead. With the helper, Jenkins took over sole possession of 10th place on the program's career assists chart with his 60th.

LIU Post answered back with consecutive goals in a stretch of 72 seconds. Berardis ended Le Moyne's run with his 30th goal of the year with 1:27 to go in the quarter. Ryan Slane pulled the Pioneers within 11-6 with an unassisted goal with 15 seconds remaining.

Off the ensuing faceoff, junior faceoff-specialist Andrew Jackson (Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger) scooped up the ball and raced up field before finding senior midfielder Alec Westerhoff (Lagrange Park, Ill./Lyons Township/Bridgton Academy) in front of the cage for his fourth goal of the year with seven seconds to go.

Following seven minutes of scoreless action to start the fourth quarter, Le Moyne scored three times in 1:50 to take a nine-goal advantage. Corapi started the run by scoring from the right side with 8:00 left after taking a pass from senior attackman Chris Breiner (Troy, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling). With the tally, Corapi moved into a tie for fourth place on the program's single-season goals scored list with 45, while he moved into a tie for ninth place on the career goals list with 91. Only 58 seconds later, Kelly scored from the crease after collecting a transition pass from Thomas. With the goal, Kelly moved into a tie for fifth place with Gold Wave Hall of Fame member Jim Nee '99 on the program's career goals scored list with 109. Kelly also became the fourth Dolphin to record 41 goals in a season in back-to-back years. Junior defensive midfielder Nick Kline (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) capped the spurt with his eighth goal of the campaign with 6:10 to play after receiving a feed from Breiner in transition.

LIU Post scored the next two goals in a span of only 25 seconds. Just 30 seconds after a timeout following Kline's goal, Connor Drost scored his 27th goal of the season. Caiazza then scored from the edge of the crease following a crossing pass from Slane with 5:15 remaining.

With the 30-second clock on, Taylor finished off the game's scoring with his 33rd goal of the year with 1:42 remaining.

Krawec turned away the first six shots he faced en route to earning his 15t victory of the season between the pipes. With his 12th save of the day, he became the seventh Dolphin in the program's history to record at least 190 saves in a season and the first to do so since Grady Harrington '97 (212) in 1996. Winne finished with just three saves in the loss for the Pioneers.