The Roberts Wesleyan men’s lacrosse team used a five-goal game by sophomore Hunter Lemieux and limited their opponent to 2-of-11 in man-up situations to clinch a spot in the East Coast Conference (ECC) postseason for the first time in program history with a 13-5 victory over Molloy College.
The Redhawks are locked into third place with a 3-2 ECC record – the top four teams in the conference earn playoff bids.
Senior Cody Menzies and Lemieux netted first quarter goals as the teams were tied 2-2. After freshman Michael Pierog and Molloy exchanged early second quarter tallies, the Redhawks scored five unanswered goals with senior Collin Waden’s rebound goal sandwiched by a pair from Lemieux. Sophomore Mitch Streety scored off a face-off win by senior Sam Schubach and Pierog found the net for his second of the game with an assist from senior Kyle Dunham to put Roberts ahead 8-4 at halftime.
Lemieux opened the second half with his fourth of the game during a man-up situation and Menzies converted a breakaway pass from Pierog to extend the Redhawks lead to 10-4.
Sophomore midfielder Matt Gademske, Hilton grad Mike Richardson and Lemieux tallied the only offense in the final quarter for the 13-5 win.
Lemieux finished with five goals and an assist while Pierog had a pair of goals with one assist and Menzies two goals for Roberts. Pat Hynes was credited with 11 saves in picking up the Redhawks seventh win of the season.
In the second game of the lacrosse doubleheader, the Redhawks women came back from 7-1 and 12-5 deficits before falling 13-9.
With the contest tied 1-1 and Roberts’ freshman Emily Tomei opening the scoring after a perfect feed from behind the net by senior Emily Knight, Molloy rattled off seven unanswered goals.
The Redhawks scored three over a five-minute span late in the first half as Knight, sophomore Taylor Nathan and freshman Alexis Grant tallied.
Roberts got to within three of the lead as Tomei and Knight combined again to open the second half, but Molloy scored four times over a seven-minute span to put the game out of reach despite Tomei finding the back of the net four more times in the second half giving her six in the game.
Knight and senior midfielder Megan Burnham were recognized before the opening faceoff for the final home game in their collegiate careers. The 11-4 Redhawks will head to the road for the first round of the ECC playoffs.
