Patrick Bailey has scored eight goals this year, and four of them came in the Knickerbocker semifinals on Wednesday. |
HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 26, 2006) – Junior attack Patrick Bailey (Manassas, Va.) equaled his goal-output from the entire season with four goals in leading top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology to a 13-4 victory over No. 4 seed Montclair State University in the semifinals of the Knickerbocker Lacrosse Conference Championship on Wednesday at DeBaun Field in Hoboken, N.J. With the win, the 14th-ranked Ducks advanced to face second-seeded U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in the finals of the tournament on Saturday at a time to be determined. Stevens will be seeking its sixth straight conference title.
Bailey scored two goals in the span of 24 seconds as Stevens grabbed a 2-0 lead less than five minutes into the contest. Junior midfielder Matt Althauser (Bellevue, Wash.) picked up his fifth goal of the year to push the margin to 3-0 with 9:40 remaining in the quarter.
Freshman attack Tyler Meixner (Hamburg, N.J.) cut the Red Hawks’ deficit to two goals as he connected on an unassisted goal with 7:32 to play in the period. Junior midfielder Joe Van Sickle (Amherst, N.H.) and sophomore attack J.R. Oreskovich (La Costa, Calif.) added goals later in the quarter as Stevens opened a 5-1 lead after the opening stanza.
Despite being out-shot 20-9 in the second quarter, Montclair scored the only two goals of the period. Freshman attack A.J. Bachman (Montville, N.J.) registered a man-up goal, and junior midfielder Evan Wehmeyer (Succasunna, N.J.) tallied an unassisted goal as the Red Hawks closed to within 5-3 at halftime.
Junior midfielder Mark Bielicky (Bridgewater, N.J.) opened the third quarter with an unassisted goal to stake the Ducks to a three-goal lead. Montclair came right back with an even-strength goal to cut the deficit to 6-4 with 5:23 remaining in the period.
Bailey gave the Ducks some breathing room when he grabbed a loose ball in front of the net and scored over the shoulder of junior goalkeeper Tim Condron (West Paterson, N.J.), who made 22 saves for the Red Hawks. Exactly one minute after Bailey’s third goal of the game, Oreskovich scored to give Stevens an 8-4 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Ducks put the game out of reach with five goals in the final period. Sophomore attack John Dolny (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) and freshman midfielder Matt Keating (Chatham, N.J.) each found the back of the net in the first four minutes of the quarter as Stevens broke the game open.
Bailey had three ground balls to go along with his four goals. Oreskovich tallied five points on three goals and two assists. Bielicky finished with two goals and an assist. Althauser had one goal, three assists and six ground balls. Junior defender Phil Jonat (Bridgewater, N.J.), sophomore defender Nick Daniello (Cross River, N.Y.) and Dolny grabbed five ground balls apiece. Junior goalkeeper Jack Dunderdale (Ridgefield, Conn.) posted eight saves and eight ground balls in the game.
Montclair was led by Meixner, who had a goal, an assist and four ground balls. Wehmeyer was 9-for-15 in faceoffs. Senior defender Kenneth Weinraub (East Brunswick, N.J.) finished with four ground balls. Sophomore attack Bryan Klimchak (Clark, N.J.) had one goal in the game. In the process, he tied the Red Hawks’ single-season record for goals with 53 on the year. The original record was set by Pete Zorich in 1990.
Stevens out-scored Montclair 8-1 in the second half. The Ducks also owned a 68-29 advantage in shots during the game. Stevens converted on 17 of 24 clear attempts and was 3-for-6 in extra-man opportunities.
In the other semifinal on Wednesday, USMMA posted a 16-4 victory over No. 3 seed Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. On April 15, Stevens earned a 7-3 win over the Mariners in the only match-up between the two teams this year.
