Syracuse, N.Y. – Graduate student goalkeeper Matt Vavonese (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy/Canisius) recorded eight saves as the top-ranked Le Moyne College men's lacrosse team stifled 12th-ranked Saint Anselm College in an 8-4 win in the semifinals of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship on Wednesday afternoon at Ted Grant Field.

With the victory, the Dolphins advance to the NE10 Championship game for the 21st time overall and for the 20th time in the last 23 seasons. The Dolphins will take on second-seeded Bentley University on Saturday at Ted Grant Field at 1:00 p.m. The Dolphins and Falcons are meeting in the title game for the second time with the first resulting in an 18-5 Le Moyne win in 1997.

Le Moyne (15-0), which has seven wins over the Hawks in the last 725 days, tallied the only two goals of the first quarter. Junior midfielder Seth Benedict (Stanley, N.Y./Marcus Whitman) opened the scoring at the 11:17 mark with his 19th goal of the season. Following four empty possessions by each team, sophomore attackman Olin Stanat (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton), who made his first career start, tallied his third goal of the season with 3:10 left after receiving a pass from freshman midfielder Alec Constable (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield).

Benedict put the Dolphins up 3-0 at the 10:41 mark of the second quarter after coming around the left side of the net from behind.

Colin Mulvey got the Hawks on the scoreboard with his eighth goal of the year with 4:14 left until halftime.

The teams traded goals in the third quarter. Junior midfielder Kyle Caves (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) pushed Le Moyne's lead back to three just 47 seconds into the period off a feed from graduate student attackman Kevin Sheehan (Camillus, N.Y./West Genesee). Just over one minute later, Brendan Crowley took advantage of a miscue by the Dolphins in front of the net on a clear attempt to record his fourth goal of the season. Sheehan countered 60 seconds later by collecting a loose ball on the crease after an initial shot was saved after dumping the ball into the net for his 17th goal of the campaign. Jack Andrews got the Hawks within two for the final time with 9:38 left by finishing off a pass from Will Andrews for his 31st goal of the year.

Le Moyne extended its lead to four for the first time with the first two goals of the fourth quarter. Just 55 seconds into the stanza, fifth year midfielder Sam Lambert (Victor, N.Y./Victor) tallied his 10th goal of the season. Following almost nine minutes of scoreless play, redshirt sophomore midfielder Ethan Loun (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) found the back of the net at the 5:12 mark with his 18th marker of the season off a pass from Sheehan.

The Hawks answered 40 seconds later as Will Andrews posted his 11th goal of the year.

The Dolphins finished off the game's scoring with 3:07 remaining as junior attackman Joey Pezzimenti (Victor, N.Y./Victor/UAlbany), the NE10 Player of the Year, beat the possession clock to net his 35th goal of the campaign.

Vavonese registered five of his eight saves in the third quarter en route to capturing his 15th win of the season. Fifth year faceoff specialist Nico Mattia (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) went 11-of-16 at the dot. Anthony Kubik, who made his first start of the season, recorded seven saves in the loss.