By Dylan Fearon
For the first time since 2001, the Quinnipiac men’s lacrosse team is in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game, set to play the No. 1 seed Marist Red Foxes on its home turf.
The No. 2-seeded Bobcats defeated Detroit Mercy Thursday night in the MAAC semifinals 16-9. Leading the attack for Quinnipiac was freshman Brian Feldman, who finished the game with five goals, the second five-goal game of his young career. Connor Meth and Ryan Keenan were also key contributors to Quinnipiac’s seventh win of the season, the most since 2011, while Michael Sagl continued to display senior leadership.
“[Sagl]’s a great guy,” Feldman told MAAC.TV following the team’s win. “He can feed the ball and that’s what he’s best at. I’m going to give some credit to Ryan Keenan too. He’s out there helping us out and we just do what we do.”
In Marist’s semifinal matchup against Monmouth, the Red Foxes made mincemeat of the Hawks, taking the game 11-6. Junior Joseph Radin netted four goals in the victory, while Dominic Montemurro won 12 out of the 19 faceoffs. Marist head coach Kevin Wilkinson, who was named MAAC Coach of the Year, believes his team is going to have play a lot tougher in order to clinch an NCAA Tournament berth.
“We have to be better than we were tonight,” Wilkinson told MAAC.TV. “There’s no doubt about that. If we want to get this championship against a great Quinnipiac team, we’re going to have to get back to playing our best and that’s playing hard, playing smart, sharing the ball, and communicating defensively.”
The Bobcats are appearing in their second championship game in the past five seasons. Quinnipiac reached the Northeast Conference Championship Game back in 2011, but fell short to Mount St. Mary’s, 14-9. Marist has reached the MAAC Tournament six straight years, but has failed to win two games each time. Last year the Red Foxes made it to the championship game, but fell to Siena 11-7. Marist last advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2005.
Both squads enter Saturday’s championship riding extended winning streaks. The Bobcats have won five in a row, including a perfect 5-0 mark in April. The Red Foxes, MAAC regular season champions, are on a seven-game winning streak of their own including having won nine of their last 10. Back on March 21, Marist smothered Quinnipiac in Hamden 17-10.
The championship game is slated for 2 p.m. Saturday in Poughkeepsie, New York and can be seen live on Time Warner Cable and ESPN3.
