Photo Courtesy of Susquehanna Athletics
By Hayden Lange
Junior Attacker Pat McDermott scored the game-winning point for The Susquehanna Men’s lacrosse team to beat Saint Vincent 12-11 in a double overtime thriller Saturday in Selinsgrove.
Susquehanna overcame a three-goal deficit in the fourth quarter to be able to force overtime at 11-11. McDermott finished the game with a hat trick, scoring three goals and two assists in the game.
“I’m really proud of all these guys for never giving up,” Susquehanna head coach Stewart Moan said.
From the start, the game was very back-and-forth as in the first half alone, there were four lead changes.
Susquehanna was able to draw first blood, as first-year Matt Chubenko found the back of the net off an assist from McDermott.
In a span of 50 seconds however, Saint Vincent and SU would trade three goals total to make the score 2-2. Jonathan Nagy kicked things off with a goal, followed by Chubenko answering back with his second goal of the game, which was then followed by a goal from Neal Ritchie for the Bearcats to tie the game.
In the second quarter, the two teams continued the high-scoring affair after Ryan Rosenberger struck first with a goal early in the second.
SU eventually answered, this time with McDermott scoring his first goal off Chubenko’s first assist of the game to tie it up 3-3. The River Hawks then took back the lead after senior midfielder Jimmy Maro scored his first of two goals.
Down 4-3, Saint Vincent went on to hit on three goals in the final five minutes of the halftime. Connor Smith, Ryan Rosenberger and Calvin Rose each contributed with a goal to give Saint Vincent a 6-4 lead.
After the halftime break, the goals didn’t slow down. Susquehanna came out of halftime scoring three straight goals to take back the lead. Senior Jimmy Maro struck, freshman Quin Michaels and senior Nick Remund all scored unassisted goals, giving the River Hawks a 7-6 lead.
As expected though, Saint Vincent scored four straight goals themselves to take the lead back from Susquehanna. After Rose scored his second goal in the fourth, the Bearcats took a 10-7 with 7:34 to go.
The drama only continued in the fourth, as the River Hawks were able to come back down three goals and tie up the game 10-10. The goals all came in a two-minute stretch, starting with Chubenko scoring his third goal of the game. Sophomore Gabe Broome then found the back of the net for his first goal of the game, followed by McDermott claiming goal No.2 on the day for the tie.
The drama didn’t end their though, as Saint Vincent was able to score another goal before the end of regulation to take back their lead. With 40 seconds left however, Broome put one in the back of the net again to tie the game back up and send it into overtime.
After a back-and forth 60 minutes of regulation, the first overtime had only one-shot attempt between both teams, where Chubenko’s shot was saved by Saint Vincent.
In the second overtime period however, McDermott was able to seal the win for Susquehanna scoring his third goal of the game, completing the hat trick. The goal itself was more impressive, as McDermott took the shot from behind the goalie net after the assist from Maro and still scored.
“It was a crazy game, we were both super back and forth the whole time,” said Moan.
McDermott ended up being the leading scorer of the game with five points. Chubenko also scored three goals and added an assist to give him four points. Maro and Broome both scored two goals and Remund and Michaels both scored a goal each.
With the win, Susquehanna improves to 3-5 in 2026 as they prepare for their first Landmark Conference when they host Elizabethtown on Saturday, March 21 at noon at Sassafras Field.