Syracuse, N.Y. – An NEC Champion will be crowned in Syracuse this weekend, as the top-seeded Le Moyne College men's lacrosse team is set to host the Northeast Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship at Ted Grant Field from May 1-3. All three games will be streamed on NEC Front Row and ESPN+

Second-seeded Robert Morris (9-5, 6-1 NEC) and third-seeded LIU (9-4, 4-3 NEC) will play the first semifinal matchup on Thursday at 12:00 p.m., followed by top-seeded Le Moyne (9-5, 6-1 NEC) and fourth-seeded Detroit Mercy (5-6, 4-3 NEC) at 4:00 p.m.

The advancing teams will compete in the NEC Championship title game on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. at Ted Grant Field.

The four-team playoff will mark the first NEC Men's Lacrosse Championship to take place since 2022, as the league returned to action this season following a two-year hiatus.

Le Moyne ended the regular season with a thrilling 8-7 overtime victory over Robert Morris, which entered the contest undefeated in conference play, to earn a share of the Northeast Conference Regular Season Championship and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

Senior attackman Brian Nephew (Irving, N.Y./St. Joseph Collegiate) scored a career-high three goals against the Colonials, including the game winner in overtime off a feed from senior midfielder/attackman Ryan Eisenmann (Boca Raton, Fla./Boca Raton).

Graduate midfielder Ethan Loun (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) added two goals and one assist during the regular season finale, while sophomore goalkeeper Lucas Winger (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South) made 13 saves and registered his first career assist on a Loun goal in transition to help snap Robert Morris' six-game winning streak.

Le Moyne went 6-3 at home during the regular season, including conference wins against Cleveland State University, Wagner College and RMU.

The Dolphins earned an 8-5 conference win at Detroit Mercy on March 29. The Dolphins opened up a 5-0 lead in the second quarter with goals from freshman midfielder Emmet McDermott (Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville), Eisenmann, junior attackman Owen Wilson (Latham, N.Y./Shaker) and graduate attackman Zachary Delaney (Syracuse, N.Y./Onondaga/Hobart), and Winger came up with 13 saves in the cage as the Dolphins led wire-to-wire.

McDermott, Delaney and Wilson each contributed two goals against the Titans, while sophomore attackman Mason Ciciarelli (Clay, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) recorded one goal, a team-high two assists and four ground balls.

On the year, redshirt-sophomore attackman Thomas Berry (Tully, N.Y./Tully) leads the Dolphins in goals (19) and points (30) with 11 assists, while Loun is close behind with 17 goals and 12 assists.

Berry has recorded at least two goals in seven games this season, including three games with three goals. He also dished out a career-high four assists during an 8-7 conference win at Mercyhurst on April 12.

Loun had a career day during Le Moyne's 9-4 win over Wagner on April 5, tallying a career-high seven points via four goals and three assists.

McDermott concluded his freshman regular season with 12 goals and 12 assists, while Delaney has tallied 16 goals and six assists so far in his first campaign with the Dolphins.

Eisenmann, in his fourth season on the Heights, has contributed 14 goals and seven assists, while Wilson has provided 13 goals and two assists.

Le Moyne faceoff specialist Sam Getty (Orchard Park, N.Y./Canisius) holds a .522 face-off percentage (119-228) on the year, including 65-112 (.580) during conference play.

Short stick defensive midfielders Jack Sullivan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon/UIndy) and Dom DelPonte (Upper Saddle, N.J./St. Joseph Regional) lead the Dolphins in caused turnovers this season with 10 and nine, respectively.

DelPonte registered a career-high three caused turnovers during the win over Robert Morris on Saturday.

Senior defender Maui Wilhelm (Saint Johns, Fla./Creekside) has been an important part of Le Moyne's defensive unit, tallying eight caused turnovers and 18 ground balls in 14 starts.

Redshirt-freshman defender Jake Baker (East Greenbush, N.Y./Columbia) has started each of the last 11 games for the Dolphins, compiling 23 ground balls and four caused turnovers. Baker corralled a season-high seven ground balls last time out against Robert Morris, and recorded a season-best three caused turnovers during the win over Detroit Mercy on March 29.

During Le Moyne's seven conference games, Winger posted a .638 save percentage, which was the best mark among all Northeast Conference goalies.

Le Moyne's defense allowed just 7.3 goals per game during conference play, which was the second-best goals allowed average in the NEC.  Only Robert Morris (7.1), LIU (2.1) and Le Moyne (1.3) held a goal differential above 1.0 during league play.

With its win over Robert Morris on Saturday, the Le Moyne men's lacrosse team captured the program's 22^nd regular season conference championship in its inaugural season in the NEC, and the 19^th regular season conference championship under head coach Dan Sheehan.

Le Moyne will begin pursuit of the program's 17^th conference postseason title on Thursday in the semifinals of the NEC Championship.

SCOUTING THE TITANS:
The Detroit Mercy men's lacrosse team, led by first year head coach Charlie Hayes, went 4-3 in NEC play during the regular season. The Titans joined the Northeast Conference for men's lacrosse prior to the 2025 season after competing in the Atlantic Sun Conference from 2022-24.

Detroit Mercy began the 2025 conference slate with three consecutive losses against Robert Morris, LIU and Le Moyne, but flipped the switch in April. The Titans snapped their three-game skid with a 10-9 overtime win at VMI on April 5 and closed the season on a four-game conference winning streak to earn the fourth and final spot in the NEC Championship.

The Titans concluded the regular season with a 15-4 win over Cleveland State, led by an eight-point outing from senior midfielder/attackman Chase Mahabir.

During a 14-13 NEC win against Mercyhurst on April 19, Mahabir registered a game-high five goals including the go-ahead goal with 47 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Mahabir leads the team in goals (23), assists (12) and points (35) in 11 games played, while redshirt-freshman Marcus Thundercloud has tallied 21 goals and two assists in eight games played.

Thundercloud's 3.17 goals per conference game ranks first in the NEC, while Mahabir is third in the league in points per conference game at 4.14. Thundercloud scored four of Detroit Mercy's five goals during the loss to Le Moyne on March 29.

Mahabir saved his best for last during the regular season, tallying at least five points in each of the team's last three games.

Senior goalie Ryan Richters has tallied 143 saves through 11 games in the cage for the Titans. His .555 save percentage in conference play ranks third in the league behind Winger (.638) and Robert Morris' Nate Fechter (.610). Richters has also registered nine caused turnovers and 32 ground balls.

Junior defender Kyle Grant has compiled 34 ground balls this season for the Titans and leads all NEC players in caused turnovers with 1.91 per game. Grant recorded a team-high three caused turnovers during the meeting with Le Moyne.

Senior defensive midfielder Will Marshall has recorded 17 ground balls and eight caused turnovers in 11 games played for Detroit Mercy, while sophomore defensive midfielder Gavin Moore has compiled nine caused turnovers.

Detroit Mercy's last postseason victory came against Monmouth in the semifinals of the 2018 MAAC Championship.

ROBERT MORRIS VS. LIU
The Colonials and the Sharks will play the first NEC Championship Semifinal contest at Ted Grant Field on Thursday at 12:00 p.m.

During the regular season meeting between the two sides in Brookville on April 5, Robert Morris claimed a 13-9 win behind 17 saves from Fechter, a game-high six points from freshman attackman Luke Prezioso, and five points each from senior attackman David Burr and senior midfielder Nick Pelletier.

For LIU, redshirt-senior attackman Mark Regan scored four goals during the setback, while junior attackman Cameron Connolly and sophomore attackman Aidan Zuhoski provided two goals and one assist each.

Robert Morris competed in the NEC from 2010 through 2020, played as an independent in 2021, then won an ASUN Tournament Championship in 2022 during the team's first season in the league to earn a berth to the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

The Colonials are led by head coach Craig McDonald, who is in his fourth season at the helm of the program.

Burr currently leads RMU in points on the year with 28 goals and 23 assists in 14 starts. His 1.64 assists per game average ranks second among all NEC players, while he is third in the league in points per game with 3.64.

During conference play, Burr has increased his averages to 2.43 goals per game (5^th in NEC), 2.29 assists per game (2^nd in NEC) and 4.71 points per game (1^st in NEC). Burr tallied a season-high eight points via four goals and four assists during a conference win over VMI.

Junior attackman Calum Brennan leads RMU in goals on the year with 36, and his 2.86 goals per conference game are the second-most in the NEC.

As a team, Robert Morris has the best scoring margin against NEC opponents at 7.1, with 100 goals scored and 50 goals allowed during their seven conference matchups. The Colonials are averaging 1.29 man-up goals per conference game, and lead the league in faceoff percentage during conference play at .676.

LIU competed in the last NEC Tournament in 2022, falling to the eventual champion Saint Joseph in the semifinals by a score of 11-10.

The Sharks went 7-2 in MAAC play during the 2024 season and suffered a one-goal loss in the semifinals of the conference tournament. LIU is led by head coach Jordan Levine, who is in his third season at the helm of the program. Levine was previously the head coach at Mercy, where he led the Mavericks to a Division II National Championship game appearance in 2022 after defeating Le Moyne in double overtime in the NCAA Tournament Semifinals.

Regan leads the Sharks in points in 2025 with 25 goals and 19 assists, while sophomore attackman Ben McIsaac has recorded a team-high 28 goals to go along with seven assists. Junior attackman Cameron

Connolly has recorded at least two points in every game this season for the Sharks and concluded the regular season with 22 goals and 12 assists, while graduate midfielder Owen Stefanko has dished out 17 assists with 13 goals in 13 games played.

Junior defender Tyler Davide has tallied 20 caused turnovers this season for the Sharks, while sophomore defender Ryan Fountain has compiled 15 caused turnovers.

Redshirt-freshman goalie Brayden Wilcken holds a 7-2 record with a .535 save percentage in 10 games played and eight starts in the cage for LIU.

Admission to all NEC Championship games at Ted Grant Field is free for all spectators.