D-II Men's Quarterfinals: LRU Wins Wild Game, Saint Anselm Beats Mercy

Saint Anselm seems to have taken a liking to playing Mercy in May.

For the second straight year, the Hawks downed Mercy in the NCAA tournament — this time as the lone lower-seeded team to down its opponent in the NCAA Division II men’s quarterfinals.

Saint Anselm — 14-11 winners — never trailed after Jack Robinson knotted the score at 5 with 7:06 left in the second quarter. Jake Davis converted a feed from Will Andrews 79 seconds later for a 6-5 lead.

After Andrew Calabria equalized at 6 for Mercy, Saint Anselm ripped off four straight — two more by Davis and one each from Maverick Lyon and Colin Mulvey.

Up 10-6, Saint Anselm kept enough distance from Mercy to advance to the semifinals against Adelphi next Sunday at 1 p.m. EDT.

Davis led Saint Anselm with five goals and two assists. Nick Larsen, Lyon and Mulvey all scored twice. Saint Anselm overcame a massive faceoff deficit, 20-9, because Mercy turned the ball over 21 times.

Adelphi 14, Pace 9

Adelphi is back in the NCAA semifinals for the first time since 2017 after overcoming a quick two-goal deficit against conference rival Pace. Kyle Lewis, Braden Donnellan and Logan Tucker combined for 10 goals in the 14-9 win. Dylan Renner made 15 saves.

Much like Saint Anselm, Adelphi overcame a faceoff disadvantage (10-for-26). Pace turned it over 19 times and shot 0-for-4 on extra-man opportunities.

Lenoir-Rhyne 15, Limestone 13

Lenoir-Rhyne has Limestone’s number after losing to the Saints by a goal on March 9. The Bears have now beaten Limestone in back-to-back games, the latest a 15-13 nailbiter in Sunday’s quarterfinals.

It was a wild game. After Ryan Duncan put Lenoir-Rhyne ahead 7-4 with 9:05 left in the second quarter, Limestone scored eight of the next nine goals — three out of the stick of Chris Erneston IV. Michael Shakerin’s feed to Nate Senez with 3:15 left in the third quarter capped the run and put Limestone up 12-8.

Then it was Lenoir-Rhyne’s turn. The Bears dropped seven in a row, with Matthew Mancini tying it at 12 and Donovan Powell putting LRU up 13-12 on the extra-man chance. Kyle Hatcher and Will Canata tacked on two more for good measure. There were only two saves made in the fourth quarter, both by LRU’s Rob Pensabene.

Tampa 20, Lewis 3

Tampa crushed one of the feel-good stories of the 2024 season behind five goals and two assists from Jackson Bashaw. Canyon Birch added three goals, and five others scored twice.

Tampa led 10-2 at halftime then really blew it open with an 8-0 third quarter.

NCAA DIVISION II MEN’S
SEMIFINAL SCHEDULE

Both games Sunday, May 19, at 1 p.m. EDT.

(3) Saint Anselm at (1) Adelphi
(2) Lenoir-Rhyne at (1) Tampa