RIVERDALE, N.Y. (April 24, 2019) – The SUNY Delhi men's lacrosse wrapped up the regular season on a high note Wednesday, taking a 14-7 victory at Mount Saint Vincent to enter the postseason with an 11-5 record. With a 5-1 conference record, the Broncos will serve as the second seed from the NAC in this weekend's NAC/NECC Tournament, traveling to face the NECC's top team in New England College in the semifinals Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
After coming off a milestone day Saturday versus SUNY Canton by scoring his 100th career goal on Senior Day, senior midfielder Malik Talbert picked up where he left off, tallying seven points on four goals and three assists Wednesday evening against the Dolphins. Following a Ross Cange opening score for Delhi and Mt. St. Vincent answering with an equalizer early in the first quarter, Talbert put the Broncos in gear by netting two consecutive to close out the first ahead, 3-1. Cange and Sean Tillman then started off the second with a goal apiece, and even with a Dolphins score attempting to interrupt Delhi's follow, Brandon Katz and Brandon McGrath kept the Broncos in control with one goal each to take a 7-2 lead at halftime.
McGrath, who finished the game with two goals and two assists, opened the third with goal number two to put the Broncos up by six. The Dolphins countered with three of the next four goals, with King White's first score serving as Dehi's presence in that stretch, to narrow things down to 9-5. But the Broncos ended any threat by reeling off four straight scores over the third and fourth quarters. Katz closed out the third with his second goal for a 10-5 Delhi lead after three, followed by White gathering his second score to open the final period and Talbert netting the next two for the Broncos' largest lead of the game at 13-5. MSV would get two back for its final scores of the contest, with Brian Conti capping things off with a goal less than five minutes to play.
Talbert's seven-point day puts him third among NAC scorers this season with 63 points, and second with 46 goals. He now has 143 career points on 104 goals and 39 assists. McGrath improved his league-best assists total to 29.
The Broncos overwhelmed the Dolphins with a 60-15 disparity in shots, including a 34-9 advantage in shots on goal. Freshman goalie Travis Anderson posted two saves, as he continues to lead the NAC with an 8.13 goals against average and 158 total saves, and ranks second with a 56.4 save percentage. Delhi pushed MSV into committing 21 turnovers, and were successful on 9-of-11 clears. Freshman faceoff man Nick Dower won 22-of-24 midfield battles, even grabbing 20 ground balls.
Head coach Sam Miller's men will now make their long-awaited trip to face the New England College Pilgrims this Saturday, with the winner advancing to the NAC/NECC Championship on Saturday, May 4. Number-one NAC seed SUNY Canton, who Delhi came up just short to in a 10-9 contest on Saturday, will host NECC second seed Dean on Saturday in the other semifinals matchup. The finals are slated to be held at the site of the highest-remaining NAC team.
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