YORK, PA – The sixth ranked York College men's lacrosse squad opened their stay in the 2022 NCAA Division III Tournament with an 18-8 second round win over Southern Virginia on a beautiful Friday afternoon in York.
The Spartans advance to face the winner of Denison and Grove City in the tournament's third round on Saturday evening. The Knights get eliminated from the tournament after a stellar campaign in which they won the USA South Conference championship, the first men's lacrosse title in school history.
 
2022 NCAA Division III Tournament – Second Round
Records: #6 York 18-2, Southern Virginia 14-5
Final Score: #6 York 18, Southern Virginia 8
 
How It Happened
• The game was offensively limited in the first half as York led 2-1 after 15 minutes of play. York got goals from Zach Mentzer and Ben Mayer in the opening three minutes of the game but the Spartan offense sputtered the remainder of the quarter. Shawn Lamb got the Knights on the board at the 5:23 mark of the quarter. York out shot SVU 13-9 in the opening 15 minutes but both goalies were good as York's Jack Michael made five saves while the Knights' Caleb Brodie registered six stops.
• The second quarter was the complete antithesis of the first quarter as the offenses opened up and combined for 12 goals in the 15 minutes of play. The two teams were knotted at four after a pair of Ty Veres goals with 6:57 left in the half. York then ripped off five straight goals to take a 9-4 lead. Mayer had a trio of goals in the run while Dylan Wolf and Eric Ranck also scored during the spurt. Veres scored to halt the run with 49 seconds left before half but the Spartans got a Jacob Wilhelm goal with a mere 14 seconds left before the break to give York a 9-5 lead at the intermission.
• Veres continued his big day as he opened the scoring in the third quarter but it was all York from that point forward. The Spartans held the Knights off the scoreboard the remainder of the quarter as York got goals from Will Harnick, Wolf and Jack Grayson as they led 13-6 heading to the fourth.
• The teams traded four goals to start the fourth but the Green and White scored the final three for the ten goal margin of victory. York outscored SVU 8-3 in the second half as they out shot the Knights 34-22 in addition to winning 9-of-13 second half face offs.
 
Spartan Leaders
Ben Mayer: 5 goals, 3 ground balls, 1 caused turnover
Eric Ranck: 2 goals, 1 assist, 1 ground ball
Will Harnick: 2 goals, 1 assist
Ryan Kennedy: 5 ground balls, 5 caused turnovers
Vinny Facciponti: 16-for-24 at the X, 4 ground balls, 1 caused turnover
Ethan Greene: 9 ground balls
Jackson Shields: 4 ground balls, 3 caused turnovers
 
Spartan Goalies
Jack Michael: 58:05 minutes played, 8 goals against, 12 saves, Win (18-2)
Ian Callinan: 1:55 minutes played, 0 goals against, 1 save
 
Spartan Notes
York improves to 7-0 all-time against Southern Virginia with six of those games coming as conference opponents when both teams were members of the Capital Athletic Conference … the win is York's school record 16^th straight victory … York is now 11-6 all-time in the NCAA Division III Tournament … York fired off 71 shots in the game and that's the tenth time this year they have attempted 60 shots or more … York is now 10-2 at home … half of York's goals were assisted in the win … York won 21-of-30 face offs … the Spartan defense registered a season-high 18 caused turnovers in the win … York's 20 opponents have all had double figures in turnovers in every game this year … the 29 Southern Virginia turnovers are a high for a Spartan opponent this year … York's 51 ground balls marks the fifth time they have reached the 50 ground ball mark for the year … York surrendered their second man-down goal of the year in the win …  MAC Commonwealth Ryan Kennedy added five caused turnover to his school record as he now has 59 for the campaign … Kennedy is now one caused turnover away from tying legendary Spartan Josh Kluver for the school record of 141 … Kennedy now has 98 ground balls for the year … senior goalie Jack Michael continues to add to his school record for goalie wins as he is now 57-9 for his career … the MAC Commonwealth Rookie of the Year Ben Mayer added to his season total as he now has 83 points on 52 goals and 31 assists … the Spartans have now won 68.1% of their face offs for the year as Hugo Spencer has won 78.8% (119-of-151) of his chances while Vinny Facciponti is winning 64.1% (252-of-393) of his opportunities.
 
Up Next
The Spartans will look to advance to the quarterfinals for fourth straight year when they face the winner of the Denison/Grove City game on Saturday night at 7:00 pm at Kinsley Field.