Post stunned by Mercyhurst, 14-4

They trotted onto the field opposite their bench knowing their season was over, gathering 20 yards in front of a net that Mercyhurst had pelted with shots all afternoon.

"It's a terrible feeling," C.W. Post junior attackman Eddie Plompen said. "There's probably nothing worse."

Post's men's lacrosse team had been stunned in a national Division II semifinal Saturday, looking nothing like the USILA's top-ranked team, one that entered the game with only one loss -- an overtime heartbreaker at Dowling two months ago. But the Pioneers, who had won the last two national titles, were thoroughly dissected by Mercyhurst, never finding their championship form.

Post fell into an early three-goal hole, couldn't jump-start its offense and yielded seven unanswered goals in the second half. It added up to a 14-4 loss before 747 fans at Hickox Field, a defeat that thwarted the Pioneers' bid for a third straight appearance in the national title game.

Third-ranked Mercyhurst (13-2) will face fifth-ranked Adelphi (15-2) for the championship next Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

"It's disappointing," Pioneers coach John Jez said. "I don't think we played the full game today. Mercyhurst had a great game plan, came out and played very, very hard, and took it to us.''

"In the league, it seems like you have an alter ego," Mercyhurst coach Chris Ryan said, "a team that gives you problems no matter what the date, site or temperature. We all have a team that's a little bit of a pain. C.W. Post has had our number for three straight years, so it was nice to see the kids really come out and respond."

Mercyhurst went right at the Pioneers from the opening faceoff, controlling possession essentially from the initial whistle. Post was outshot 35-27, lost 13 of 22 faceoffs and dropped the ground-ball battle 36-33.

The Pioneers fell behind 1-0 54 seconds into the game on senior attackman Andy Winslow's goal, and it became 3-0 with 9:43 left in the opening quarter. They showed a bit of life when Plompen (two goals) took a feed from sophomore attackman Justin Patterson and cut the deficit to 3-1 with 8:31 left in the first.

Plompen's score ignited a mini-spurt in which the Pioneers drew within 4-3, but the Lakers scored three straight goals to take a 7-3 lead into halftime.

Plompen converted another feed from Patterson 1:29 into the third to shave the deficit to 7-4, making the Pioneers believe they were about to get back in it.

"We came out at halftime and had to come together and play as a team to get to that next level, and really just start to take over the game," said Plompen, a West Islip product. "I definitely thought we were going to make a run. But it just never happened."

That's because Mercyhurst scored the next seven goals, vaulting the Lakers to their first title game since 2007.