AMHERST, MASS – The second ranked York College men's lacrosse team earned a hard-fought 13-11 victory on the road at Amherst College on Saturday afternoon in the third round of the 2018 NCAA Division III National Tournament.

The Spartans advance to face the winner of the RIT-Stevens game on Wednesday in the NCAA Division III Elite Eight.

Game #21 – NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

Records: #2 York 19-2, #4 Amherst 15-4

Final Score: York 13, Amherst 11

Shots: York 29, Amherst 48

Shots on Goal: York 18, Amherst 26

Ground Balls: York 24, Amherst 32

Face Offs Won: York 12, Amherst 16

Clears: York 16-of-21, Amherst 11-of-11

Saves: York 15, Amherst 5

Turnovers: York 22, Amherst 13

Extra Man: York 1-for-2, Amherst 0-for-2

How It Happened:

• The Spartans got off to a good start in the first quarter as Thomas Pfeiffer recorded the game's opening goal off a feed from Hunter Davis just 3:24 into the game. Jon Coffey tied the game over three minutes later with a goal off a pass from Colin Minicus. The teams traded goals as Jake Hvazda scored for York while Minicus found the back of the net for Amherst. Ryan Cook and Dylan Wolf notched back-to-back goals in the final 3:23 of the first quarter to give York a 4-2 advantage heading to the second quarter.

• Amherst hit the Spartans with a three-goal spurt to open the second period. Minicus, Coffey and Dylan Peabody notched the goals as the Mammoths led 5-4 with 8:31 remaining in the half. The Green and White answered with a three-goal spurt of their own as Davis, Gunnar Reynolds, and Matt Whitcher scored to give the Spartans a 7-5 lead heading to the break.

• The halftime stats were not in favor of the Spartans as York was outshot 26-11 and committed 14 turnovers in the opening 30 minutes of play. A huge factor in the Spartans having the lead was the play of senior goalie Landry Marshall as he notched 11 first half saves, helping York to the two goal lead at the break.

• The Mammoths came out of intermission and wasted little time in cutting York's lead in half as Coffey scored a mere 24 seconds into the third quarter. York answered with a Pfeiffer goal 1:23 later, pushing York's lead back to two. Amherst's Jackson Herrick responded with an unassisted goal with 11:08 left in the third as the hectic pace to start the second half continued. York owned the remainder of the third quarter to seize control of game. The Green and White tallied three straight goals, turning a one goal lead into a four goal margin. Whitcher, Davis and Hvazda scored for York, giving the Spartans an 11-7 lead heading to the fourth.

• The Mammoths got a goal from Herrick to open the fourth period but the Green and White got a huge man-up goal from Davis off a feed from Hvazda to push the lead back to four with 11:08 left in the game. The Spartan defense would hold strong for the next five minutes before Amherst got back-to-back goals from Coffey and Peabody, cutting York's lead to 12-10 with 4:40 left. York got a big insurance goal from Whitcher with 35 seconds left in the game, giving York the three goal lead. Amherst face off man Dylan Finazzo earned a win in the ensuing face off and raced down the field and scored with 29 seconds remaining. Finazzo won the next face off but York forced a turnover and ran out the clock in earning their first NCAA Tournament road win.

• If you didn't know the final score, the stats would give you a different winner as the Mammoths outshot York 48-29, including 26-18 in shots on goal, held a 32-24 edge in ground balls, forced 22 Spartan turnovers and won 17-of-28 face offs yet the Spartans still won the game.

Spartan Leaders

Hunter Davis: 3 goals, 2 assists, 6 shots

Matt Whitcher: 3 goals, 2 ground balls

Jake Hvazda: 2 goals, 4 assists, 3 ground balls, 1 caused turnover

Thomas Pfeiffer: 2 goals, 3 ground balls

Dylan Wolf: 1 goal, 2 assists

Billy Sasso: 11-for-27 at the X, 2 ground balls

Joey Fiorino: 5 ground balls, 1 caused turnover

Mammoth Leaders

Jon Coffey: 4 goals, 12 shots, 3 ground balls

Colin Minicus: 2 goals, 3 assists, 2 ground balls

Jackson Herrick: 2 goals

Dylan Peabody: 2 goals, 3 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers

Dylan Finazzo: 16-for-26 at the X, 4 ground balls

Goalie Comparison

Landry Marshall (YCP): 60:00 minutes played, 11 goals against, 15 saves (Win, 19-2)

Chad Simmons (AC): 60:00 minutes played, 13 goals against, 5 saves (Loss, 9-3)

Game Notes:

The Spartans are now 6-3 all-time in the NCAA Tournament … York improves to 1-1 on the road in the NCAA Tournament … the meeting between the Spartans and the Mammoths was the first in school history … York has faced nine different opponents in their NCAA Tournament … York will make their second Elite Eight appearance in school history (2016 vs. Gettysburg) … Amherst is now 9-6 all-time in the NCAA Tournament … the loss snaps Amherst's string of three straight Elite Eight appearances … York is now 9-0 on the road this season … the loss was the first home loss for the Mammoth this year as they finish the campaign 8-1 Pratt Field … the 19 wins for the Spartans sets a new school record for wins in the season, besting the 2016 team that earned 18 wins … Amherst entered the game averaging 19.33 goals per game and the Spartans held them to eight goals under their average … the Mammoths enter the game ranked second in Division III in goals per game but the Spartans came in ranked sixth in team defense at 6.35 goals per game and the defense held for the Spartans in the win … the Spartans tied a season-high they really didn't want to tie as they committed 22 turnovers in the win (22 turnovers @ Wesley on April 4) … York was credited with a season-low four caused turnovers in the victory … York tied a season-high with 11 goals allowed (3 other times this year) … York is now 9-2 against NCAA Tournament teams this season … Amherst entered the game converting 46.2% of their 78 man-up chances but the Spartans stayed away from the penalty box as they committed just two infractions and held the Mammoths to 0-for-2 in the man-up in the win … the game featured two of the best face off men in all of Division III as Amherst's Dylan Finazzo came into the game averaging 68.7% at the X while York's Billy Sasso was at 64.1% … Finazzo held the final advantage in the game but Sasso was able to hold his own, getting a number of key face offs during the Spartan scoring runs … senior Landry Marshall was outstanding as he had a season-high 15 saves in the win … Marshall has had three games this year with double figures in saves (10 vs. Mary Washington and 11 vs. Frostburg) … Marshall continued to push his school record for goalie wins in a season as he now has 19 victories in 2018 … junior Thomas Pfeiffer now owns the single season record for points in a season as he has 84 on 51 points and 33 assists … Pfeiffer broke a record that was only one-year old as teammate Brendan McGrath had 82 points in 2017 … freshman Jake Hvazda had a big day with six points on his two goals and a career-high four assists … Hvazda has at least one point in every game this year … Hvazda has notched 20 points on 12 goals and eight assists in his last five games.

Up Next:

The Spartans return to action on Wednesday, May 16 when they will face the winner of the RIT-Stevens Institute in the Division III Elite Eight. The site and game time will be announced on Monday.