Box Score The Keuka College men's lacrosse team had won the previous four North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) postseason championships, but that streak came to an end Saturday as the Wolfpack fell to Morrisville State 13-8 in the NEAC title game in Morrisville, N.Y.
Senior James Voigt (Penn Yan, N.Y./Penn Yan) scored two goals with an assist, and sophomore Jamie Kuppel (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) added two goals with three groundballs, but the second-seeded Green and Gold (9-4) saw their NEAC postseason streak snapped at the top-seeded Mustangs (11-5).
Senior Derek Pfeiffer (Lee Center, N.Y./Rome Free Academy) scored twice, classmate Cory Gray (Seneca Castle, N.Y./Midlakes) added two assists, and senior Eric Saltrelli (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) made eight saves in the loss.
Juniors Brendan King (Auburn, N.Y./Auburn) and Anthony Luppino (Penn Yan, N.Y./Penn Yan) each added a goal, while senior Marc Sacco (East Syracuse, N.Y./East Syracuse-Minoa) had four groundballs and Luppino collected three for the Green and Gold.
Trailing 1-0, Voigt found King for the equalizer 2:30 into the championship matchup. Voigt then pumped in an unassisted tally with 8:57 remaining in the opening quarter to give the Wolfpack a 2-1 lead, but that would be the last lead Keuka would enjoy.
Morrisville State scored the last two goals of the opening stanza to lead 3-2, but Kuppel found the back of the net with an unassisted goal 1:27 into the second quarter to even the score.
The Mustangs won the ensuing faceoff, and Louie Geswaldo scored for a 4-3 Morrisville lead. Eighteen seconds later, after another faceoff win, Brad Biggs scored for a two-goal Mustang lead.
Keuka fought back and closed within 5-4 when junior Matt Beebe (Syracuse, N.Y./LaFayette) found Luppino for a man-up goal seven minutes into the second.
After Morrisville reclaimed a two-goal lead, Voigt sliced the deficit in half on a goal with 6:15 remaining in the second.
But the Mustangs held Keuka scoreless for 8:59 bridging the second and third quarters, and used a 4-0 run to lead 10-5 on Dylan Lyons' tally 2:27 into the third.
Gray fed Pfeiffer for a goal 17 seconds later, and Kuppel added an unassisted goal to pull Keuka within 10-7 with 9:51 remaining in the third.
Morrisville answered with three straight goals and held Keuka scoreless for 21:50 spanning the third and fourth quarters to pull away for the title.
The Wolfpack were outshot 36-28 and won only 9 of 24 faceoffs against the Mustangs. Morrisville State earns the NEAC's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III tournament.