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Lemoyne's Quest For A Third Straight Crown Comes
Up Short With A 16-11 National Championship Setback To NYIT
The Le Moyne College men’s lacrosse team came up just short in its
quest for a third straight Division II National Championship and
fell to NYIT, 16-11, in front of 24,317 at Gillette Stadium. The
Dolphins finished the 2008 campaign at 15-2 and were led by Nick
Gatto’s three-goal performance. The Bears captured the program’s
fourth Division II crown and wrapped u p the season at 13-1. Keith
Henderson, the game’s Most Outstanding Player, netted five goals for
NYIT.
The Dolphins raced out to a 5-2 lead after one quarter of play
and held a 14-6 advantage in the shots category in the game’s first
fifteen minutes. Five different Dolphins connected on first-quarter
scores. Brian Welch sent in the game’s first goal at the 9:08 mark
and Gatto, Jack Venditti and Alex Bily followed with a trio of goals
to push Le Moyne’s lead to 4-1. After Henderson scored his first
goal of the game, Brian Cost tallied with 31 seconds remaining to
give the Dolphins their largest lead of the game.
Le Moyne’s seniors carried a majority of the scoring load in the
final game of the group’s career. Gatto finished with three goals
and McDonald and Bily each finished with two. Cost finished with
three points, on a goal and two assists, and Donahue contributed two
points of his own, with one goal and one assist.
A Dolphin defense, which had allowed a nation-best 3.27 goals per
game coming into the game, allowed 16 goals for the first time since
it allowed 20 scores against RIT in 1999. The team’s man-down unit
entered the game with a .889 success rate but surrendered three
goals to the Bears’ potent man-up attack. Goalkeeper Doug McIver
finished with seven saves against NYIT’s high-powered offense.
Le Moyne’s senior class ends its time on the Heights with a 62-5
record that includes two National Championships and three
Northeast-10 Conference Championships.
courtesy of Le Moyne College
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