ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE MEN'S LACROSSE
Saturday, May 1, 2004

Etown Clinches First-Ever MAC Playoff Berth, Blue Jays & Chris McCrea Set Single-Game Ground Ball Records, at Etown Defeats DeSales 18-10

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- In just its third season of competition, the Elizabethtown College men's lacrosse team clinched its first post-season berth in the Middle Atlantic Conference playoffs ever Saturday with an 18-10 home win over DeSales University. With the win, the Blue Jays wrap up the regular season with a 9-5 overall record and a 7-3 mark in the MAC, while DeSales drops to 3-12 overall and 2-8 in the MAC. The top four teams in the 11-team MAC earn conference playoff spots, and the winner of the conference playoffs receives an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III tournament.

Elizabethtown set a new team record for most ground balls in a single game Saturday by scooping up 72 against DeSales, breaking the old team mark of 60 set last year. Also, junior defender Chris McCrea (Broomall, PA/Marple Newtown) scooped up 14 ground balls to set an Etown record for most ground balls in a single game by an individual. Long-stick midfielder Drew Ward (Pasadena, MD/Northeast) grabbed seven ground balls to finish second among the Blue Jays in that category for the game.

Etown cruised out to a 5-0 lead during the first quarter, and the Blue Jays held a 10-3 lead by halftime. Matt Newell (Malvern, PA/Great Valley) paced Etown in goals scored with four, while Allen Churchman (Aston, PA/Garnet Valley) led the Blue Jays in assists with five and scored three goals to lead the team in points with eight. Also scoring three goals for Etown was first-year Frankie Puzzangara (Wallingford, PA/Strath Haven), and Matt Seiboth (Havertown, PA/Haverford) tallied two goals and four assists for six points. First-year Tim Sieger (Levittown, PA/Conwell-Egan) had three assists and one goal for Elizabethtown as well.

Patrick Stringer (Cockeysville, MD/Dulaney) led DeSales in goals with five, and Charlie Mertz (Allentown, PA/Parkland) paced the Bulldogs in assists with three.

Elizabethtown will return to action on the road Wednesday, May 5 in the first round of the MAC playoffs at 4:00 p.m.. Because FDU-Florham also won its game Saturday, the Devils will get the third seed in the MAC playoffs and Etown will get the fourth seed. The Blue Jays will as a result travel to Grantham, Pa. to face top-seeded Messiah College.

DeSales University (3-12, 2-8)
vs. Elizabethtown College (9-5, 7-3)
Date: May 01, 2004 Location: Elizabethtown, Pa. Stadium: Var Hockey/Lax Field
Attendance:200 Start time:1:00 pm End time:3:15 pm Total time:2:15

Score by period      1 2 3 4   Tot
-------------------------------------
DeSales University.. 0 3 3 4 - 10
Elizabethtown Coll.. 5 5 5 3 – 18

DeSales University SCORING: GOALS: Patrick Stringer 5; Andrew Stamatelos 2; Ben Kelley 1; Dave Mantz 1; Justin Holman 1.
ASSISTS: Charlie Mertz 3; Ben Kelley 1; Joe Kots 1; Chris Laveglia 1.

Elizabethtown Coll. SCORING: GOALS: Matt Newell 4; Allen Churchman 3; Frankie Puzzangara 3; Matt Seiboth 2; Tim Sieger 1; Ryan Smetana 1; Justin McQuaid 1; Chris Harrison 1; Reid Allison 1; Paul Wisneski 1.
ASSISTS: Allen Churchman 5; Matt Seiboth 4; Tim Sieger 3; Justin McQuaid 1; Ryan Smetana 1.

DeSales University GROUND BALLS: Rich Reynolds 5; Dylan Beese 3; Billy Yanniello 3; Ben Conroy 2; James Elliott 2; James Hasher 2; Ben Kelley 2; Bryan Hart 1; Joe Kots 1; Chris Laveglia 1; Dave Mantz 1; EJ Quigley 1; Jon-Erik Stamatelos 1.

Elizabethtown Coll. GROUND BALLS: Chris McCrea 14; Drew Ward 7; Frankie Puzzangara 5; Jason Wolensky 5; Frank Cacia 4; Allen Churchman 4; Dave Eshleman 4; Matt Seiboth 4; Brian Burke 3; Chase Kulp 3; Ryan Leister 3; Justin McQuaid 3; Matt Newell 3; Tim Sieger 3; Reid Allison 2; Mike Dunn 2; Steve Deavor 1; Fran McKeever 1; Ryan Smetana 1.

SHOTS - DSU 25; ETOWN 40.
PENALTIES - DSU 8/6:30; ETOWN 2/2:00.
MAN-UP OPPORTUNITIES - DSU 2-2; ETOWN 4-8.
FACEOFFS - DSU 16-30; ETOWN 14-30.
CLEARS - DSU 14-17; ETOWN 24-9.

GOALIES - DSU: Ben Conroy (60:00 minutes, 24 shots-6 saves, 18 GA); ETOWN: Brian Burke 9-5 (45:00, 12-6, 6) , Fran McKeever (15:00, 6-2, 4).