Syracuse, N.Y. – Junior attacker Joey Pezzimenti (Victor, N.Y./Victor/UAlbany) tallied six points in the first half to lead the top-ranked Le Moyne College men's lacrosse team to a 22-7 victory over Franklin Pierce University on Saturday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference action at Ted Grant Field.

With the victory and Bentley's victory over Adelphi later in the day, the Dolphins clinch at least a share of the NE10 regular season title.
 
"Great day to honor our eight seniors," said head coach Dan Sheehan, who passed his college coach, Ithaca's Jeff Long (who is still coaching), for 10th on the NCAA's career wins list with his 362nd. "Really happy to see a bunch of guys who work so hard and practice every day have an opportunity to make some plays."

Le Moyne tallied all six of the first quarter's goals. Following a save by each goalkeeper in the opening 80 seconds, fifth year midfielder Sam Lambert (Victor, N.Y./Victor) tallied his fifth goal of the season with 13:01 remaining in the quarter. Just 13 seconds later, Pezzimenti netted his 28th goal of the year after collecting a pass from sophomore attackman Isaac Frechette (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius). Lambert scored again at the 9:34 mark. After alternating turnovers from each team, junior midfielder Kyle Caves (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) found the back of the net for the 25th time this season with 6:43 left. After Pezzimenti collected a loose ball off an errant shot, he fed Frechette with 5:35 remaining for his 20th goal of the campaign to force a Franklin Pierce timeout. Pezzimenti completed the scoring in the quarter with 1:48 remaining after receiving a pass from junior midfielder Seth Benedict (Stanley, N.Y./Marcus Whitman).

The Dolphins scored the first three goals of the second quarter to take a 9-0 lead. After the Dolphins opened the quarter on an extra-man opportunity, Pezzimenti finished off a feed from redshirt sophomore midfielder Ethan Loun (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) just 16 seconds into the period. Graduate student attackman Kevin Sheehan (Camillus, N.Y./West Genesee) made the score 8-0 with 13:22 left by sweeping a loose ball into the net after Loun had a shot saved. Senior midfielder Joel Firth (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) completed the game-opening run at the 12:08 mark with his fourth goal of the season after collecting a pass in transition from Frechette.

Joe Nutting scored at the 7:40 mark off a feed from Caleb Ikkela to get the Ravens on the scoreboard.

Le Moyne netted the last four goals of the quarter to take a 13-1 lead into the intermission. Sheehan got the Dolphins into double digits at the 5:57 mark with his 15th goal of the year after collecting a feed from Loun. Just 32 seconds later, Frechette finished off a pass from Pezzimenti, who then tallied his 31st goal of the campaign 48 seconds later off a feed from Benedict. Redshirt junior midfielder Ryder Simser (Watertown, N.Y./Watertown) tallied his first goal of the season and the second of his career with 3:38 left after receiving a pass from Caves.

Franklin Pierce opened the scoring in the third quarter at the 12:59 mark as Sean Daly scored his 20th goal of the season.

The Dolphins followed with the next four goals to take their first 15-goal lead of the game. Sophomore attackman Ryan Eisenmann (Boca Raton, Fla./Boca Raton) started the run at the 7:21 mark with his fifth goal of the season. Freshman attackman Owen Wilson (Latham, N.Y./Shaker) collected his second goal of the season with 6:00 left by swatting a loose ball into the net after his initial shot was saved. Junior attackman Preston Taylor (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) picked up his fifth goal of the year 54 seconds later off a feed from Eisenmann. Following a penalty on the Ravens, senior midfielder Blake Van Epps (Albany, N.Y./Albany Academy/Manhattan) recorded his fourth goal of the season after taking a pass in the man-up situation from Simser.

The Ravens completed the scoring in the quarter with a pair of goals in the final 37 seconds. Nutting recorded his second goal of the day with 37 seconds left off a pass from Nathaniel Girardin. Ikkela then scored his 21st goal of the year with 13 seconds to go out of a Franklin Pierce timeout.

Le Moyne answered with the first two goals of the fourth quarter. Off a pass from Wilson, Van Epps scored 75 seconds into the period. Wilson picked up another assist 75 seconds later as Eisenmann tallied his sixth goal of the season.

Franklin Pierce countered with the next two in a span of 14 seconds. Connor Henchey recorded his first goal of the season with 11:17 left and then Eric Bua Jr tallied his ninth goal of the year off a pass from fellow defenseman Connor McCormack off the ensuing faceoff.

The Dolphins followed with the next two goals. Eisenmann completed his hat trick with 8:55 left to get the Dolphins to 20 goals and then dished out a pass to Wilson for an extra-man goal with 4:03 remaining.

The teams traded goals in the final three minutes of the game. Daly scored Franklin Pierce's final goal with 3:00 remaining. Simser then scored in an extra-man situation with 1:42 left after taking a pass from freshman midfielder Michael LaCouture (Latham, N.Y./Shaker).

Graduate student goalkeeper Matt Vavonese (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy/Canisius) made three saves against one goal over 26:38 to earn his 13th win of the season between the pipes. Fifth year faceoff specialist Nico Mattia (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) and sophomore faceoff specialist Sam Getty (Orchard Park, N.Y./Canisius HS) each went 10-for-13 at the "x", while Mattia had six ground balls and Getty had 10. Mike Masterpolo made 16 saves in the loss for the Ravens.

Le Moyne (13-0, 9-0 NE10), which honored Vavonese and the team's seven fourth-year players prior to the game, wraps up the regular season on Tuesday at second-ranked Adelphi University at 5:00 p.m. The winner of the contest will be the top seed in the NE10 Championships. If the Dolphins win, they will also be the outright regular season champion.