Men’s Lax Successfully Defends NEAC Title

Junior Chris Redington matched a career-high with eight points on seven goals and an assist to lead Keuka's men's lacrosse team to its second straight NEAC postseason championship with a 17-5 win over Medaille College Sunday afternoon (photo courtesy of Ed Webber, Keuka College Sports Information Department).

BOXSCORE
Keuka College’s men’s lacrosse team lost its first North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) game of the 2012 season, but since then the Storm has been perfect, winning its last nine conference contests.

With its latest win, the second-seeded Storm (11-4) successfully defended its NEAC postseason championship with an impressive 17-5 win over No. 4 Medaille College (8-7) Sunday afternoon at Morrisville State University.

Junior Chris Redington (Tully, NY/Tully) matched a career-high with eight points on seven goals and one assist to pace Keuka, which jumped out to a 5-0 lead after one quarter, 9-0 at halftime and 12-0 before the Mavericks got on the scoreboard.

Redington captured the NEAC Tournament MVP honors after scoring nine goals with one assist in two wins as the Storm outscored the competition 33-11 to win its second straight championship. It was his second eight-point outing of the season, and the seven goals were a career-high.

Senior Gino Marcello (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) ended his outstanding Keuka career by scoring two goals with five assists, junior Mike Crumlish (Hilton, NY/Hilton) scored three goals with two assists and freshman James Voigt (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan) and sophomore Nick Judge (Clifton Springs, NY/Midlakes) each added two goals for the Storm.

Keuka, which defeated Morrisville State 8-7 in the 2011 title game, was making its third straight NEAC championship game appearance, and it didn’t take long for the Green and Gold to assert their dominance against the Mavericks.

A day after holding Cazenovia scoreless for nearly 40 minutes during a 16-6 NEAC semifinal win, a stout Storm defense clamped down on the Mavericks. Led by sophomore Scott Miller (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan) and classmate Isaiah Nalls (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls), Keuka held Medaille scoreless for the entire first half, and the first 34 minutes and eight seconds of Sunday’s title game.

Redington had a hand in the first four Storm goals, scoring Keuka’s first two goals over a span of 1:38, assisting on the third Keuka goal and adding a man-up tally as part of his three-goal, one-assist first quarter.

Redington added two second-quarter goals while Voigt and fellow freshman Anthony Luppino (Penn Yan, NY/Penn Yan) added scores during a 4-0 second quarter. Crumlish, Voigt and Marcello all scored during the first 3:14 of the third to put Keuka ahead 12-0 as an unselfish Storm squad had assists on eight of its first 12 goals.

Brock Levin, the NEAC Player of the Year, scored the first of his three goals 4:08 into the third quarter to snap the scoring drought for Medaille.

Crumlish added an even-strength goal and Redington scored his second man-up goal of the game to extend Keuka’s lead to 14-2 heading into the fourth. The Storm enjoyed a 34-10 edge in shots over the first three quarters.

Freshman Eric Saltrelli (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) made 11 saves for the win.

The Green and Gold, who won their last seven conference games to earn the No. 2 seed in the tournament, picked up their second win over Medaille this year. Keuka also beat the Mavericks 13-10 in Buffalo on April 11.