MACON, Ga. --- The Jacksonville Dolphins turned in a dominant performance to close the regular season, dominating the Mercer Bears 17-7 Saturday afternoon. With the win and other results around the league, JU earned a share of the Atlantic Sun regular season conference title and the No. 1 seed in the ASUN Men's Lacrosse Championship

The Dolphins (8-5, 4-1 ASUN) were led by senior talisman Jack Taylor who finished with five goals and an assist. He reached the 30-goal mark on the season and the 100-goal threshold for his career. 

The first quarter was a cagey affair, as Jacksonville graduate student goalie Ryan Della Rocco was called into action with five saves in the first quarter. With Della Rocco on fire in goal, the Dolphins got the first two goals of the game.

Jacksonville ran the field aggressively in transition, as senior Gavin Angell and Nicky Brown combined for back-to-back goals. First Angell dumped it down to Brown on the break, then Brown found Angell cutting to goal for the finish.

The Bears tied the game up at two, but Taylor fired away for the first of his goals to give JU the first quarter lead. After a tight first period, Jacksonville blew the game wide open in the second. 

Junior William Krupsky fired away for a goal not 90 seconds into the quarter. After a quick Della Rocco save, Taylor hammed home a goal on the other end. Freshman Zane Czeschin joined the scoring party with a low-to-high laser into the top right corner.

Mercer got one back to temporarily pause the JU momentum, but it wouldn't take long for Jacksonville to get back on the scoresheet. Sophomore Daylin John-Hill found himself open off a Taylor feed, flipping a low shot past the legs of the opposing net-minder.

Another Della Rocco save led to more early offense as sophomore long-stick midfielder Lucas Fraser pushed the tempo before finding Taylor for a goal. Fraser wouldn't be done putting up, grabbing a loose ball off a faceoff and firing away his fourth goal of the season on the fast break.

Czeschin potted his second of the half to close a 7-2 second quarter and put Jacksonville up six goals at halftime.

An early replay review slowed the game down in the third quarter, but the Dolphins were first to the scoreboard in the second half. Taylor fired a shot from range, and even as the Bears goalie made the stop, Brown was there to pick up the loose ball by the crease and dunk it home.

Czeschin completed his hat trick with an overhand hammer after picking up a ground ball. Taylor made it four with another goal, closing out a low-scoring third quarter with JU up nine.

Taylor reached the century mark with his fifth tally of the game to all but put things away in the fourth. Sophomore Jack Russo stepped in for a tough solo effort, then sophomore defender Wesley Cohn fired a shot in transition for the first goal of his career.

Game Notes

• Della Rocco finished with 14 saves at 73.7%, his sixth game this season with double-digit saves and sixth game saving at least 60% of shots faced.
• Taylor recorded his sixth game this season with at least six points. He has at least three points in every game this season and in 19-straight games dating back to last season.
• This is the first time the Dolphins have clinched the top seed in the conference tournament since the 2022 Southern Conference tournament.

Head Coach John Galloway
"Happy with the win today, but we're focused on the opportunity we have on Friday to play with this team again. We know Mercer will be ready to compete, and our focus will be on getting back to work immediately to grow over the next six days to fight for more time together."

Up Next
The Dolphins will go right back to work against the Bears in the semi-finals of the ASUN Men's Lacrosse Championship next Friday at the friendly confines of Rock Stadium. Opening faceoff is slated for 3 PM.