SELINSGROVE, PA (April 27, 2024) - The Susquehanna University men's lacrosse team defeated the Elizabethtown College Blue Jays 9-8 in overtime on Senior Day, earning the two seed and first-round bye in the Landmark Conference Tournament.
The start was far from ideal for the River Hawks as they fell behind 4-1 after the first period. Three of them came from Blue Jay attacker Gavin Gismondi, and the other came from Colin Kondracki. Susquehanna's lone goal was scored by Nick Remund at the 10:00 minute mark.
In the second both teams matched each other with eight shots taken and one goal scored by each. Pat McDermott made it 4-2 with 5:25 to play in the half, but the Blue Jays got that goal back just two minutes later to take a 5-2 at halftime.
The third period saw the River Hawks get outshot by the Blue Jays 12-5, but goalie Jozef Korpics made six saves to keep Elizabethtown scoreless in the period. Susquehanna's offense did not get going until the final five minutes when Remund and Brennan Lorence each scored to make it 5-4 going into the final stanza.
The Blue Jays restored some order in the period, making it 6-4 early on, but the River Hawks responded with three goals in three minutes from Connor Aitken, Matthew Faggioli, and Dylan New to give them their first lead of the game with 6:03 to go. Elizabethtown wasted no time responding as Kondracki scored back-to-back goals to give the Blue Jays an 8-7 lead. On the final possession for the River Hawks Faggioli netted his second goal to tie the game with 16 seconds remaining to send it into overtime.
In overtime Susquehanna won the faceoff and never gave up possession as they took all four shots in the extra period, and Steven Musser scored the game-winner off a pass from McDermott to give the River Hawks the come-from-behind win.
Faggioli led the team with four points on two goals and two assists, while Musser and McDermott each had one goal and one assist. Remund finished with two goals and Lorence, New, and Aitken each had one goal. Korpics had his best performance between the pipes all season, finishing with 19 saves on the day.
Susquehanna finishes the regular season with a 14-3 record overall, 8-1 in the Landmark Conference, and a perfect 7-0 at Sassafras Field. The River Hawks will play on Thursday May 4 at 4 p.m. against the winner of the Drew vs. Scranton Landmark Conference Quarterfinals matchup.
