Limestone Tops Mercyhurst, Saints Move On to 5th Consecutive Men's Lacrosse Title Game
May 22, 2004

CHAPEL HILL, NC: After an extremely had fought game the Limestone College men's lacrosse team earned their fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II National Championship Game with a 14-12 win over Mercyhurst College.

Limestone's head coach, T.W. Johnson, told his team "survive and advance." The Saints did just that by nearly leading the game wire-to-wire. Mercyhurst presented quite a challenge however, and remained within striking distance throughout.

Limestone's David Wooster, who recently lost his father to lung cancer, opened the scoring at the 12:33 mark of the first quarter with an unassisted goal. Nolan Heavenor pushed the lead to 2-0 when Jason Randolph found him in front of the net. Mercyhurst rallied with goals from Troy Ledbetter and Ian Komorek to tie the score at two. The two teams then traded single tallies to bring the score to 3-3.

Limestone would then claim the lead for good by scoring the final two goals of the first quarter and all three goals in the second quarter to take an 8-3 lead at the intermission.

The Lakers came out hot in the third quarter and clawed right back into the game. Goals from Komorek, Andrew Sands and Joe Pool brought Mercyhurst to within two at 8-6. Limestone pushed the lead to four with goals from John Navarro and Kyle Zents, but the Lakers responded with goals from Mike McLellan and Jonathan Kane. After Navarro scored again, Mercyhurst score two unanswered to bring the score to 11-10 with just under four minutes remaining in the final period.

Heavenor, Wooster, and Roger Vyse then scored three unanswered goals to put give their team a 14-10 lead with 1:34 remaining. Mercyhurst once again rose to the challenged tallying two more scores, but time expired on the comeback and the Saints came away with a 14-12 win.

Mike McLellan led the way for the Lakers with three goals. Jonathan Kane tallied four points on two goals and two assists. Troy Ledbetter also had four points on one goal and three assists.

David Wooster had an outstanding game, scoring five goals. Nolan Heavenor notched four points with three goals and an assist. Rogre Vyse and John Navarro each netted two goals for the Saints while Jason Randolph pitched in three saves.

After the game coach Johnson praised both teams.

"We knew this would be a tough game. We made some mistakes, but we survived and advanced. We've got a great group of seniors who have given us great leadership all year long."

David Wooster, who lost his father to lung cancer on Thursday, spoke about an emotional three days after the game.

"I went home to be with my family. I asked them if I should play and they said yes. I left one family to be with another and just played as hard as I could. Dad always loved to watch me play and he still is."

Mercyhurst Head Coach Chris Ryan found no fault in his team's effort.

"It's tough to play here especially against a good team like Limestone. This is probably the hardest working team I've had the pleasure to work with."

Limestond will move on to face LeMoyne who defeated New York Institute of Technology 7-5 in the nation's other semifinal. That game will take place at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, MD on May 30. Game time is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

Defender and captain Clint Pitts said his team would be ready.

"Coach Johnson always has us prepared with a game plan. I'm sure Baltimore will be no different."