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Video Highlights I DeVita's Game-Winning Goal

Post-Game Comments from Coach Poskay, DeVita

Pictured Above: Overtime Goal by Paul DeVita (inset) sets off wild Seahawk celebration
 
Staten Island, NY – Junior midfielder Paul DeVita (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) blasted home the game-winning goal from 10 yards out after receiving a pin-point pass from freshman midfielder Billy Orme (Great Falls, VA/Langley) with 2:29 left in overtime to lift Wagner to a thrilling 6-5 victory over Mount St. May's in the Northeast Conference (NEC) opener for both teams.
 
With the win, the Seahawks improve to 3-4 overall on the season while the Mountaineers fall to 2-5.
 
The victory is Wagner's first-ever over the Mount, which entered the game with a 14-0 all-time record vs. the Seahawks.

 

DeVita's clutch score marks the second game-winning overtime goal of his career. On February 26, 2014, his goal in the fourth overtime against Monmouth gave the Seahawks a 7-6 victory over the Hawks in a game that was also contested at Hameline Field.

DeVita, who tied the game at 5-5 on an acrobatic, unassisted goal late in the fourth quarter, finished with two goals and one assist on the afternoon, matching the stat line produced by freshman attackman Andrew Streilein (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape). Contributing one goal apiece to Wagner's winning effort were junior attackman Billy Battaglia (Madison, NJ/Madison) and redshirt-sophomore attack Patrick McMenamin (Longport, NJ/St. Augustine Prep), while Orme finished with two assists.
 
Junior Daniel Valencia (Gaitherburg, MD/Gaithersburg) spearheaded a sterling defensive effort for the Seahawks in causing two turnovers and collecting three ground balls. Junior Anthony Peruso (Warwick, NY/John S. Burke Catholic) came up big in goal for Wagner with six saves and four ground balls.
 
In the faceoff circle, red-shirt sophomore William McMenamin (Longport, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) played a key role in the Seahawk victory, winning 9-of-14 faceoffs while tying Peruso with a game-high four ground balls, as the Seahawks gained possession on 9-of-15 faceoffs overall.
 
Five different Mountaineers found the net while freshman goalie Matt Vierheller recorded 11 saves on the afternoon. Defenseman Kyle O'Brien also did yeoman's work in keeping Mount in the game, coming up with a game-high seven caused turnovers.
 
The Seahawks jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 4:01 into the game on a Streilein goal off a feed from Orme. Streilein also had a hand in the second goal of the game, intercepting a pass behind the Mount goal before hitting Patrick McMenamin' for a score with 2:20 left in the opening quarter that put the Green & White on top by a 2-0 count.
 
Mount opened the second quarter with a pair of goals, an unassisted tally by Bubba Johnson at the 14:24 mark, followed by a Justin Gosnell unassisted score with 12:09 left in the half, in tying the game at 2-2. Much like in the first quarter, a long scoring drought then ensued as the game remained deadlocked until the 4:52 mark when Mark Hojnoski found the back of the net after receiving a feed from Brent Tsang which gave the Mount its first lead of the game at 3-2.
 
With 1:18 remaining before halftime, Wagner received an important man-up goal by Battaglia, off a DeVita assist, that made it a 3-3 game at intermission.
 
Early in the third quarter, the Mount took advantage of a Wagner penalty when Gosnell hit a cutting Clayton Wainer, as he darted toward the goal, for a score that gave the Mountaineers a 4-3 lead at the 11:05 mark.
 
The defenses again took over until Streilein banged home the equalizer from in close on a gorgeous wrap-around goal with 6:15 left in the third quarter, knotting the game at 4-4. With 2:26 remaining in the third, the Mount regained the lead on a Ryan Lamon goal off an assist from Mikey Ripa.
 
The Mountaineers maintained their 5-4 lead until the 6:32 mark of the fourth quarter when DeVita forged the game's third tie at 5-5 on a supreme individual effort. Weaving his way through traffic, the 5-10 Garden State native sank the goal from 10 yards out, while going airborne and being contested at the same time.
 
The score remained tied at 5-5 until DeVita struck again, delivering the game-winner in overtime.
 
Statistically, Wagner held the upper hand in shots, 34-27, while holding a slim 28-27 edge in ground balls. With William McMenamin leading the way, the Seahawks won 9-of-15 faceoffs, while each team was 1-of-2 on extra-man opportunities.
 
The Seahawks will look to even their season record at 4-4 when they travel to Newark, NJ to meet NJIT, which is competing in its first season as a Division I member, in a Noon start. The matchup with the Highlanders marks the final non-conference tilt of the season for Wagner, as the Seahawks' April 4 home contest vs. Bryant kicks off a season-ending five-game NEC stretch.

NOTES:  Since the NEC began sponsoring the sport of men's lacrosse in 2011, today's victory marks the first time that Wagner has won a conference opener. It also marks just the second time that the Seahawks have ever won a conference opener. Wagner, which competed in the MAAC from 2001-2010, won a league opener one other time, earning a 6-5 win at VMI on March 17, 2004 in what was that season's league-opening contest for the Seahawks. The three wins totaled by the 2015 Seahawks are the most under fourth-year head coach Matt Poskay and equals the most wins in a season for Wagner as the 2002 Seahawks were 3-10.
 
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