LAKEWOOD, NJ (Feb. 26, 2024) - Georgian Court Men's Lacrosse plays their second USILA top-10 opponent in three games.
Opponent
No. 9 Mercy Mavericks (3-0, 0-0 ECC)
Where
Dobbs Ferry, NY - Mercy Field
When
Tuesday, Feb. 27 - 3 p.m.
How to Watch
• Tuesday's game is available to watch via a free-to-view broadcast on the Mercy portal of the ECC Digital Network powered by HUDL. Live stats are also available at gculions.com.
Previously vs. Mercy
• Mercy has been a perennial powerhouse both regionally and nationally.
• They have met in each year of Georgian Court's existence as a program, however the Lions are yet to beat the Mavericks in eight games.
• A year ago, GCU scored eight goals in an 18-8 loss. The eight goals matched the most ever against Mercy.
•
Daniel Burnham scored four points with two goals and two assists.
•
Vincent Burns added two goals as well.
Brett Bridges and
Tallen Smith each had one.
•
Vincent Burkhart was under heavy duress all game and made 25 saves
Last Time Out
• Georgian Court got back in the win column with a 16-11 triumph over St. Thomas Aquinas.
• The game was close throughout until GCU was able to pull away late.
• The Lions were up just two, 11-9, but finished the game outscoring the Spartans 5-2 to win by five.
•
Tallen Smith scored six times while Brett Bridges and
Matt Dorrian each added three.
•
Vincent Burkhart stopped 14 shots.
CACC Leaders
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Brett Bridges leads the CACC and is 10 in D2 scoring four goals per game. His 5.33 points per game also leads the conference.
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Tallen Smith isn't far behind sitting third in the CACC with three goals per game.
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Garrett Kenny is leading the CACC and is 13th nationally winning 68.6% of his faceoffs.
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Vincent Burkhart's 12.65 goals against average is third in the league.
• As a team, the Lions have the most ground balls per game in the CACC and seventh in D2 averaging 45.67.
• GCU's team faceoff winning percentage of .713 is fifth in the country, first in the CACC.
• Georgian Court has the best scoring margin and man-up offense in the CACC.
• No team in the league is scoring more than GCU who's averaging 16.33 goals per game and 7.67 assists per game.
Who's Hot
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Brett Bridges was last week's CACC Player of the Week. He leads the team with 12 goals and 16 points.
•
Tallen Smith is this week's CACC Player of the Week. He scored six in the win at STAC.
• Speaking of Players of the Week,
Garrett Kenny is the league's Defensive Player of the Week. He won a career-best 19 faceoffs against STAC.
•
Vincent Burkhart made 14 saves in each game last week and was named the CACC Goaltender of the Week.
•
Matt Dorrian has five goals in his last two games.
•
Kyle Harms has at least two ground balls in all three games played.
Individual Milestones
•
Vincent Burns is one point away from 25 and
Tyler Burns is two.
•
Brett Bridges needs one goal to reach 50.
• One more ground ball will get
TJ Parrett to 30.
•
Hunter Rindos is one caused turnover shy of 10.
•
Joe Zerr needs two points to reach 50.
• One more shot will move
Tallen Smith to fourth all-time at GCU.
About the Opponent
Mercy Mavericks
• Mercy is off to a 3-0 start to the season.
• They'll allowed just 10 goals per game in those three and scoring more than 17 per game.
• The Mavericks just defeated No. 10 Bentley 13-11 over the weekend in Massachusetts.
• A year ago, Mercy lost in the first round of the NCAA Championship, 17-16 to No. 6 Saint Anselm.
• The Mavericks have returned 2023 ECC Defensive Player of the Year Justin Gerdvil. They also have USILA All-Americans Tyler Pjatak and TJ Heyder back for this season.
• Cameron Dorfman has been the man between the pipes for the Mavs. His 61% save percentage is 13th in Division II and he's averaging 15.67 saves per game.
• Mercy is fifth in the nation with a 70.3 faceoff winning percentage. Jason Kuehner is 62-88.
• Greg Gibbons leads the team with 15 points. He and Andrew Calabria each have nine goals.
• One area of concern for Mercy is their 18 penalties through three games. Teams have also scored 10 man-up goals on the Mavericks this season.
