No. 9 Pace sneaks past Men's Lacrosse; Bower ties NE10, NCAA DII caused turnover mark

PLEASANTVILLE, New York - It was a back-and-forth battle in the rain, and ultimately the American International College men's lacrosse team fell 17-14 to No. 9 Pace University in Northeast-10 Conference play on Wednesday, April 17.

AIC is now 5-9 with a 1-7 NE10 mark.

The Setters started strong with two quick goals but AIC grabbed the next three. Carter Linkletter put his team on the board at the midpoint of the first quarter on a feed from Micaiah Boyle, Seven Gillingham tied the game with 2:21 left in the frame, and Devon Walker found Jack Bamford open at 14:35 to give AIC a 3-2 edge after one.

The Yellow Jackets kept it going out of halftime; Ries Bower struck man-down at 1:45, but the Setters landed three goals in a 60-second span to take the lead. The squads traded tallies from there, with Bower striking again, Jacob Ligor netting on the man-up from Gillingham, and Boyle finding Dawson Long for AIC's goals. Late in the period, AIC regained the lead as Bamford set up Linkletter with 1:49 to go, allowing AIC to take an 8-7 lead into the break.

Rain kept falling and goals kept coming in the third. Devon Walker notched a hat trick in the frame, while Gillingham buried his second and third of the game as well, to counter four Pace goals and give AIC a 13-11 edge after three. Andrew Boyer and Boyle assisted the first and second Walker goals, respectively, while Bower grabbed an assist on the first Gillingham tally of the period.

Pace turned it on in the fourth with three straight goals early on to regain the lead; one of those goals came just after an AIC tally was disallowed for a crease violation. Callan Dent tied the game, but the Setters scored three more for their 17-14 margin of victory.

Bower, in addition to three points, caused four turnovers. He now has 54 on the season, tying both the NE10 and NCAA Division II single-season mark. Saint Anselm's Kevin DeBenedetto had 54 in 2010 to set the conference and national record, which has since been tied by Bower as well as Devin Cruz of Belmont Abbey in 2016, Nick Shannon of Florida Southern in 2023, and Michael Jensen at Coker, who also has 24 this season.

AIC has one remaining game on Tuesday, April 23 against Saint Michael's College at Abdow Field beginning at 7:00 p.m.