Lancaster, Pa. – (4/26/2024) – With the conclusion of the regular season and league schedules, Conference Commissioner Jessica Huntley has officially released the seeding for the upcoming
2024 Atlantic East Conference (AEC) Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament. A 5-1 league record earns Gwynedd Mercy University (8-7, 5-1) the #2 seed and a First Round bye as the Griffins await the outcomes of this weekend's First Round (Apr. 27) contests for an AEC Semifinals opponent. The AEC Semifinals are scheduled of Wednesday, May 1, with the highest remaining seed traveling to #1 Cabrini University and the second-highest remaining seed visiting #2 Gwynedd Mercy University; start times are to be announced.
This Saturday's AEC First Round contests include a 2:00 p.m. faceoff at #3 Marymount University and a 3:30 p.m. faceoff at #4 Immaculata University. The Saints will serve as host to #6 Marywood University, while the Mighty Macs will serve as host to #5 Neumann University.
Gwynedd Mercy University defeated each potential AEC Semifinal opponent during the regular season. Following a 19-3 AEC loss to Cabrini University on April 3, the Griffins rattled off five straight league victories, including a 17-9 win over Marymount University (Apr. 10), a 14-10 win over Immaculata University (Apr. 13), an 11-5 win over Marywood University (Apr. 17), a 12-6 win over Neumann University (Apr. 20), and a 25-7 win over Centenary University (N.J.). The Red and Gold ranked fourth in the conference for goals for (189) and goals against (158), while ranking sixth in ground balls (438), fifth in caused turnovers (116), fourth in clear percentage (257-for-333, .771), third in turnovers (278), second in shooting percentage (.316) and margin of victory (2.1 goals), and first in penalties (51) and penalty minutes (42:00).
The Griffins were led by a balanced offense – which features four with 28 goals or more – an experienced defense, and the outstanding goalkeeping of junior
Jared Devine (Pottstown, Pa.). Junior midfielder
Ian Kish (Easton, Pa.) was Gwynedd Mercy University's top scorer with a team-high 30 goals (9
th) and 17 assists (T10
th) ranking him 10
th in the league with 47 points. Kish was joined with plus-28 goals by sophomore attack
Gunnar Seaman (Worcester, Pa.), (29 goals), senior attack
Nick Flamma (Sewell, N.J.) (28), and sophomore attack
Josh Devine (Pottstown, Pa.) (28). Flamma enjoyed his best season in the Red and Gold with a career-high 45 points with career-high in both goals (28) and assists (17). He garnered an AEC Weekly Honor Roll mention on March 26 and finished the regular season with 30 ground balls and four caused turnovers. Seaman was the only other field player to appear on the league's weekly reports as he earned recognition on March 12 and April 15. He continued to impress in his second season with 40 points (29 goals, 11 assists), 24 ground balls, and four caused turnovers.
On defense, sophomore
Dylan Gazda (Pottstown, Pa.) headlines the unit in front of Devine with a 28 ground balls and a team-high 16 caused turnovers. He is 2-for-3 (.667) on faceoffs and recorded his first collegiate point with an assist (19-4, 6:03 4QTR) in the Griffins' 20-4 victory at Bryn Athyn College (Mar. 23). Devine dazzled during the AEC season with AEC Defensive Player of the Week honors on April 15 and 23, and at least 15 saves in each of the Griffins' first five contests. He recorded a program single-game high 26 saves in the win over the Saints and currently ranks second all-time at Gwynedd Mercy University for single-season saves with 193 (2
nd in AEC).
Please visit GwyneddAthletics.com following Saturday's AEC First Round contests for updates to the Griffins' postseason schedule.
2024 AEC Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament Schedule
Saturday, April 27 - First Round
#6 Marywood @ #3 Marymount, 2:00 p.m.
#5 Neumann @ #4 Immaculata, 3:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 1 - Semifinals
Lowest Remaining Seed @ #1 Cabrini, TBA
Next Lowest Remaining Seed @ #2 Gwynedd Mercy, TBA
Saturday, May 4 - Championship
Semifinal winners @ highest remaining seed, TBA
