Posted: May 19, 2010
STEVENSON, Md. --- Richie Ford's behind-the-back goal capped a late Stevenson comeback to win, 15-14, in overtime against Roanoke in the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Quarterfinals at Caves Sports Complex. The Mustangs advance to the semifinals with a 19-1 record while the Maroons end their season at 18-3.
Roanoke, now 1-2 against Stevenson, outshot the Mustangs 72-40 and won the ground ball competition, 40-29. SU held a slight edge in face-offs (17-15) and converted 25-of-30 clear attempts. Roanoke was 24-of-26 for the game. Both teams were ranked in the top-five when facing each other for the second-straight meeting.
The Maroons are now 16-21 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, reaching the national quarterfinals for the 19th time in program-history. The 14 goals were the second-most in a post-season loss behind a 15-goal effort in a loss to Washington College (MD) in 1976.
Roanoke got on the board first with Justin Tuma's 21st goal of the season off an assist from Matt Quinton just over three minutes into the contest. Ashton Hotchkiss found an open Steve Furdock less than a minute later followed by a goal by Quinton from Pat March at the 10:16 mark to give the Maroons an early 3-0 advantage.
Stevenson then began a run, scoring five unanswered goals to take a two-goal lead, 5-3. Richie Ford led the first-quarter surge, scoring the first and last goal over the nine-minute span.
The Maroons answered back with back-to-back man-up goals in the final 13-seconds of the quarter to tie the score at 5-all. March scored off an assist from Richard Lachlan and Quinton scored in transition from Tuma to give the Maroons the momentum following the first 15 minutes of action.
March found Noah Gibby as he cut to the middle and netted his first goal of the game to regain the lead, 6-5, early in the second quarter. Stevenson's Rob Lamey fired his second goal of the game to tie the score with 13:05 remaining.
Back-to-back penalties by Roanoke gave Stevenson a man-up opportunity, of which the Mustangs took advantage. Sean Calabrese and Ford scored back-to-back goals during the EMO to go up, 8-6. Kyle Moffitt scored an unassisted goal to give his team a three-goal lead with 10:38 remaining.
After Roanoke took four consecutive shots, March fought his way through two defenders and found the back of the net to cut the Maroons deficit to within two. Trey Keeley scored a goal as he was hit hard during the shot to make it 9-8 with 7:06 left in the first half.
The last seven minutes of the half went scoreless, but Roanoke had several scoring opportunities in the final two minutes of play. The Maroons had the final five shots of the second quarter, but came up short as Stevenson went into the half carrying a one-goal lead.
March scored his second goal of the game off Tuma's second assist to tie the game at 9-9 to open the second half. Ford scored his fourth goal of the contest at the 4:04 mark in the third quarter to grab back a one-goal lead for Stevenson.
Quinton tied the game for a fourth time in the afternoon with a hard fought goal near the crease to make it 10-10, but a goal with 2:16 left in the third period returned a one-goal lead to the Mustangs' favor.
With 1:11 remaining, Tuma tied the game once again as he shook his defender and fired his shot off the goalie and in the net to send the game into the final quarter with an 11-11 score.
Keeley scored his second goal of the game to give Roanoke its first lead since midway through the second quarter at 12-11 with 13:41 left. Jeff Keating scored his first goal of the contest to give the Maroons its largest lead since the first five minutes of action.
Calabrese pulled the Mustangs to within one with his first goal of the game, but March's fourth goal off an assist by Keeley gave the Maroons a 14-12 lead with 7:20 remaining.
Jimmy Dailey cut the Maroon advantage to one and Moffitt scored from 20-yards out to tie the game at 14-all with 3:09 left in regulation.
Goalkeeper Jake Dorsey rebounded after the back-to-back goals allowed, coming up with the two biggest saves of his career in the final two minutes to keep his team alive as he cleared the ball and sent the game into overtime.
Dorsey finished with 15 saves, ending his career with 657 stops, third on the all-time list at Roanoke. He capped the season with 187 saves and leaves the program as the winningest goalie with 53 career wins.
March led Roanoke with four goals and two assists for six points in his final collegiate game. He capped his star-studded career with 152 goals (2nd all-time), 91 assists (8th all-time), 243 points (4th all-time), 397 shots (6th all-time) and 257 shots on goal (2nd all-time).
Quinton had three goals and one assist for four points to finish with 186 career points, ranked 13th on the all-time list at Roanoke. His 149 goals are third all-time behind March, and his 227 shots on goal are also third all-time. Quinton's 22 man-up goals tie for fourth on the career list with Andy Bonasera '03.
Tuma collected 10 groundballs in addition to two goals and two assists. He was named this week's Nike/Inside Lacrosse National Player of the Week. Keeley finished with two goals and an assist. Stephen Simmons collected six groundballs to end his career with 284, ranked sixth all-time at Roanoke.
The Maroons capped a brilliant season that will remain in the minds of many for years to come. They broke both the school and ODAC-records in wins (18) for the second-straight season. They were ranked in the top-10 all-season and posted their second-straight undefeated conference season with a 7-0 mark.
This year's team scored 573 points, scored 351 goals, dished out 222 assists, took 651 shots on goal, and posted a 7.79 goals against average, all of which are second all-time in a single-season at Roanoke. The Maroons did break the single-season shots record with 1084.
