MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The SUNY Morrisville men's lacrosse team earned the overall top seed heading into the 2022 United East Championship Tournament, finishing the league slate with an undefeated 6-0 effort, and are set to host fourth seeded Hilbert College Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. on Drake Field in Morrisville in the opening round.
 
The Mustangs, who lead the league in several offensive categories are backed by one of the most potent offensive units, who together combine for an average 27.25 points per game, including 16.33 goals per average. Morrisville also boast a league best 10.92 assists per game, man-up scores per game (2.33) behind a solid unit that on average will see more than eight contribute to the offensive onslaught.
 
Junior Zach Nestor (Manlius, N.Y.) has led the Mustang charge throughout the season, posting a high 71 points behind his 28 scores and 43 assists in just 12 games to date. A majority of his assists have found their way to the sticks of Roman Reiss (LaFayette, N.Y.) and Dante Patriarco (Cortland, N.Y.) who enter the post season with 43 and 38 points, respectfully.
 
The midfield unit of Like Strong (Rochester, N.Y.), Evan Kistner (Fulton, N.Y.) and Peter Pina (Culver City, Calif.) have also had their had in the dominating offensive unit, each adding double digit assists, to go along with their 38, 32 and 22 point totals.
 
Equally so, Morrisville enters the post-season boasting the league's top ranked defensive unit, who on average across the season has posted a 7.29 goals against average with the backing of goalkeeper Dylan LaPlace (Chester, N.Y.). The unit in front of LaPlace, though, has proven their finesse throughout the season, causing a top ranked 11.17 turnover average per game, in part due to the prowess of long stick Kyle Farrell (Holtsville, N.Y.) who ranks third overall in the league with his 2.08 caused turnover per game average.
 
Morrisville got off to a quick start early in the last meeting between the two programs on April 23, dominating from the opening faceoff and netting their first of 21 total scores a mere 58 seconds into the game as they captured the 21-4 conference win.
Soren Bredeson (Eagle, Colo.) dominated the center x with his 17-of-20 win with 10 ground ball pickups while Nestor poured in eight points, Reiss six and Strong another five.
 
LaPlace held his ground in net with 12 stops in the win.
 
Hilbert enters the semifinals with a 3-3 league record, capturing wins over Medaille, LaRoche and Wells College to earn the fourth overall seed.

The Hawks average 10.11 goals per game, and have accumulated 63 assists to date on the season behind their balanced attack of Zach Blount, Joey DiMaria, and Brandon Bitka who have all posted more than 23 points to game on the year.
 
Blount has also contributed 41 wins at the center faceoff spot, while Michael Anzalone has added 14 caused turnovers to the defensive game.
 
Griffin Miller is the main go to in net for Hilbert, posting a .534 save percentage on the year and 12.47 goals against average.
 
In the last meeting between the two programs, Miller made four stops before Brandon Moore relieved Miller for the final 35 and made 11 stops.
 
Semifinal action will get underway at 4 p.m. on Drake Field in Morrisville Wednesday, with the winner advancing to the United East Championship final that is scheduled to take place at the remaining highest seed after the semifinal round.
 
St. Mary's College (Maryland) earned the second overall seed after finishing the league slate with a 5-1 record, and will meet third seed Penn College at 5 p.m. in St. Mary's City Wednesday, with opening faceoff scheduled for 5 p.m. Penn College earned their second straight trip to the playoffs finishing the 2022 regular season with a 4-2 league record.
 
The championship final is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
SUNY Morrisville's curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs.
 
The college was ranked among the Best Regional Colleges in the North by U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges 2020 issue and was among the top 10 performers for social mobility, and was also recognized in the Top Public Schools, Regional Colleges North in the 2020 Best Colleges rankings. For more information about SUNY Morrisville, visit www.morrisville.edu.