#7 – MLAX: Mount St.
Mary’s vs. Robert Morris (MSM 16-15, OT) – 5/4/12
Men’s lacrosse may be the Northeast Conference’s newest
championship event, but in just two years the competition has done an amazing
job of catching up to some of the other championships in the drama department.
Had there been a Top 11 Games of 2011 list in existence last year, the 2011 semi-final matchup
between Robert Morris and the Quinnipiac Bobcats definitely would have been toward the top.
Trailing 11-8 with three minutes to go, the Bobcats received three unanswered
goals by Jack Oppenheimer over the final 2:50, including the tying goal as the
final second of regulation ticked away, to send the game into overtime. Then in
the second OT, a Christian Haggerty shot won it for Quinnipiac. The Bobcats would
advance to the final where they would ultimately fall to host Mount St. Mary’s 14-9.
Fast forward now to 2012, Robert Morris came in as the host
school and regular season champions. The Colonials, no doubt looking to put behind them their
2011 disappointment of seeing things abruptly slip away, found
themselves once again involved in a semi-final thriller. With the NEC Men’s
Lacrosse competition still in its infancy, Robert Morris and the reigning
champion, Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers, continued what is quickly becoming an
annual tradition…a NEC Men’s Lacrosse semi-final showdown worthy of being one
of the top NEC contests of the year. This year’s version checks in at
number seven on the Top 12 NEC Games of 2012...
The Mount got off to a strong start, grabbing a 3-1 lead in
the first quarter. The Colonials answered back with seven unanswered goals to
go up 8-3 with 5:51 remaining in the first half. NEC Men’s Lacrosse 2012 Player
of the Year Kiel Matisz scored two of the goals, and senior Casey Abbot
recorded three of the goals for a first half hat trick.
Finding themselves down by five goals, in one of the key sequences of the game,
Mount rallied to put as many scores on the board as they could within the final
five minutes of the first half. The Mountaineers were able to get back three,
as Daniel Stranix, Andrew Scalley, and Christian Kellett started the comeback
train, pulling Mount to within 8-6. Kellet’s goal, off an assist from Scalley,
came with just seven seconds remaining until halftime. Mount would then go on
to outscore Bobby Mo 5-4 in the third quarter to pull within one, 12-11, going
into the final 15 minutes of regulation. 
Once again the Mount came out in a flurry. After scoring the
final two goals of the third, the Mountaineers scored the first three goals of
the fourth to take their first lead since seven seconds into the second
quarter. With 9:35 left to decide which team would advance to the championship
game, and Robert Morris trailing 14-12, Abbot once again found the back of the
cage pulling the Colonials to within one. Nearly three minutes later the
Colonials found the equalizer, with Dave Morton knotting the game up, a man up,
off a feed from Kyle Buchanan. The tie would be short lived however, as just 20 seconds
later, Jake Hayes scored to regain the Robert Morris lead. 
With 31 total goals scored, this game marked the highest
scoring game in the brief history of the NEC Men’s Lacrosse Championship. Mount
would go on looking to defend their title in their second straight tournament final,
where this time they would fall to the Bryant Bulldogs 12-6. Robert Morris, once again
tasting semi-final heartbreak, were upset as the top seed on their home field,
and suffered their first loss in almost seven weeks, ending their season at
11-4. Matisz would record six points on the afternoon to break Robert Morris’
single season points record with 64. NEC Recap
Mount St. Mary's Recap
Game Highlights
#8 – SWIM: Day Four of the NEC Swimming Championships (SFU
748-747) – 2/25/12
#9 – BASE: Wagner at Fairleigh Dickinson (FDU 4-3, 12
innings) – 4/7/12
#10 - WSOC: LIU-Brooklyn vs. St. Francis, 2012 NEC Women’s
Soccer Final (LIU 1-0) – 11/4/12
#11 – WVB: Robert Morris at Sacred Heart (SHU 3-2) –
10/13/12
#12 (tie) – WBB: Central Connecticut State at St. Francis
(SFU 86-83, 2OT) – 2/20/12
#12 (tie) – WBB: LIU-Brooklyn at Monmouth (MU 55-54) –
2/25/12
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