Lancaster, Pa. – (4/23/2026) – With the conclusion of Wednesday night's final regular season contests, league commissioner Rebecca Mullen announced the seeding for the upcoming 2026 AEC Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament. Conference wins over #4 Marywood University (8-3 on Mar. 28) and Neumann University (15-7 on Apr. 18) earned Gwynedd Mercy University (7-6, 2-2) the #3 seed in the playoff bracket, sending them to #2 Immaculata University (11-5, 3-1) for a 1:00 p.m. AEC Semifinal on Saturday, April 25. The opposing 1:00 p.m. semifinal will feature the #4 Pacers (6-10, 1-3) at #1 Marymount University (7-7, 4-0).
Gwynedd Mercy University visited Immaculata University for their 2026 meeting on Saturday, April 11. In a high-effort performance, the Griffins suffered a 12-5 setback despite controlling possession late and mounting a strong fourth-quarter push. The Griffins showed early composure, responding quickly to the Mighty Macs' opening goal with a man-up connection from senior attacker
Nick Citrigno (Southampton, Pa.) and freshman midfielder
Cooper Lachowicz (Toms River, N.J.); 1-1 (9:16, 1QTR). Gwynedd Mercy University continued to generate quality looks in the second quarter and eventually ended a four-goal run with a connection between sophomore midfielder
Colin Vannais (Washington Township, N.J.) and Citrigno; 5-2 (1:41, 2QTR). Lachowicz (8-3, 13:51 4QTR), senior attacker
Josh Devine (Pottstown, Pa.) (9-4, 11:35 4QTR), and sophomore attacker
Ethan Galvan (Brick, N.J.) (11-5, 9:28 4QTR) each found the back of the net in the fourth quarter. Defensively, junior
Joe Oriold (Southampton, Pa.) recovered four ground balls and caused five turnovers, while senior
Dylan Gazda (Pottstown, Pa.) was equally effective with four ground balls and three caused turnovers. In goal, sophomore
Alexander Guardino (Lumberton, N.J.) (6-5) made 13 saves, keeping the Griffins within striking distance against a high-powered Immaculata offense. His 12th save marked the 100th of his collegiate career.
Statistically, the Gwynedd Mercy University offense is led by the combined efforts Devine, Citrigno, Lachowicz, Vannais, as well as a host of sophomores;
Landen Ciran (Ephrata, Pa.),
David Crespo (Furlong, Pa.), and
Ethan Galvan (Brick, N.J.). Ciran (27 goals, 5 assists) and Devine (24, 8) currently top the Red and Gold's season stats with 32 points apiece; the former holds the team lead in shots (107) while in the midfield with eight caused turnovers and 35 ground balls. Citrigno (16, 10) and Crespo (7, 17) have offered balanced play and served as the primary playmakers with 27 assists between them. Galvan (10, 6), Vannais (10, 6), and Lachowicz (11, 4) have been valuable complementary pieces in the Griffin gameplan.
A Gwynedd Mercy University defense – headlined by Gazda, Oriold, and freshmen
Caleb Gaines (Brookhaven, Pa.) and
Colton Munyan (Jupiter, Fla.) - has impressed in front of Guardino. Oriold and Gaines currently share the team lead in caused turnovers with 26 apiece; both have made several appearances on the AEC Men's Lacrosse Weekly Honor Roll and the latter has stood out in his debut season with three goals and 61 ground balls, additionally. Senior face-off
Jake Tedeschi (Goshen, N.Y.) is 149-for-244 (.611) in the circle with a team-high 68 ground balls while Guardino (7-6) sports a 7.83 goals against average (GAA) and a .561 save percentage (SV%) with 129 saves, an assist, 33 ground balls, and four caused turnovers.
Gwynedd Mercy University is tied for second in the AEC for goals scored (130) and first in goals against (102). They ranked third (3
rd, .611; 168-of-275) on the face-off and they have been successful on 265-of-335 (.791) clears. The Red and Gold are also fourth in the AEC in both ground balls (4
th, 470) and caused turnovers (4
th, 142).
