Bear Lax Trax Fax 04.22.2024

By John Nichols P’09

BLTF 042294

D-I

BEARS vs BEARS and Big Ten Tournament

#19 MICHIGAN (Hunter Taylor, Graham Hertzberg) 15

OHIO STATE (Cullen Brown) 9

Ohio State had a slight lead in the first quarter, but Michigan tied the game up with a pair of late goals.  The Buckeyes got the lead back with just fourteen seconds left in the opening quarter.  Ohio State would not lead again in the game.  Big Blue netted three goals to take the lead in the middle of the second quarter, then swapped goals with the Buckeyes over the balance of the quarter to lead by two at halftime.  In the second half, Michigan had small runs of two or three goals at a time while the Wolverine defense allowed only single scores to Ohio State over the balance of regulation.

Hunter made twelve saves in the game and picked up one ground ball.  Cullen took one shot in the game, scooped up four ground balls and forced a Michigan turnover.

With the win, Michigan advances to the Big Ten semi-finals where they will face top-seeded Johns Hopkins.

OTHER GAMES

DARTMOUTH (Will Cohen, Cameron Brown, Zak Oehlerking) 10

#9 Cornell 15

Cornell built nine goal lead by scoring in small sets of two or three and by not giving up back-to-back goals to Dartmouth.  Dartmouth broke out in the middle of the fourth quarter and scored the game’s final four goals, but the contest was long decided by then.  The loss ends Dartmouth’s season.

Will and Zak both played in the game.

#5 DENVER (Ryan Giles) 15

Marquette 9

The Pioneers capped regular season Big East play to finish a perfect 5-0 in league play.  After the teams swapped goals early on, Denver took their first solid lead with a three-goal run in the first quarter.  Marquette cut that lead to a single goal with a pair of second-quarter scores.  The Pioneers ended the first half scoring with one last goal, then, when play resumed after the break, ran off five unanswered goals in the third quarter.  Each team scored three times in the final period with Denver’s lead never falling below six goals.

Ryan picked up two ground balls and caused one turnover.

HARVARD (Joey Graham) 11

Brown 10

After the teams swapped first goals, Harvard scored four times in a bit over two minutes in the middle of the first quarter.  The game then settled into goal for goal exchanges until late in the third quarter when Harvard had another quick scoring burst—this time three goals in just over a minute of playing time.  Harvard needed each and every one of those scores as only Brown scored over the rest of the contest.  Brown ran off four straight scores, the last coming with a bit over three minutes left in the game.  Brown got off a shot that could have tied the game, but Harvard got the ball back and managed to frustrate Brown until the final horn sounded.

HOBART (Jackson Galliani)11

Saint Bonaventure 10

Hobart finished off a challenging season with a win.  Both teams were winless in Northeast Conference play and the desire of each team to avoid that fate for the full season was evident in a back-and-forth game that was tied   on seven different occasions.  Each team had, and lost, leads.  Hobart took a two-goal lead with three straight second half goals, that run being the largest for either team in the game.  The Bonnies bounced back with a pair of goals for another tie.  Hobart took the lead back shortly thereafter and managed to hold off Saint Bonaventure’s attempts to tie the game up yet again.

NAVY (JT Thomas III, Preston Lugar) 13 OT

Bucknell 12

Navy took advantage of a rash of Bucknell penalties late in the second quarter to score three straight man-up goals and take a 6-4 lead into the halftime break.  After Bucknell opened the scoring for the second half, Navy reeled off another set of three in a row to lead by four.  Bucknell responded with a quick run of four goals in just over three minutes to knot the game at nine a piece.  The Midshipmen mustered another set of three in row, but the Bison matched that as well. 

Bucknell won the ball off of the overtime faceoff and got off one shot before Navy took possession back.  That possession proved fruitless as did Bucknell’s subsequent turn.  Navy got the game winner on their next shot.

#8 YALE (Jake Cohen) 8

#16 Princeton 15

The Tigers made progressively longer scoring runs while limiting Yale to one goal at a time until right at the end of the third quarter.  By the time the Bulldogs got their first (and only) back-to-back goals, Yale led by six.

Yale and Princeton will meet again in the semifinals of the Ivy League Tournament.

USILA TOP TWENTY (4/29)

1. Notre Dame

2. Johns Hopkins

3. Syracuse

4. Denver

5. Virginia

6. Duke

7. Cornell

8. Maryland

9. Penn State

10. Georgetown

11 Army

12. Yale

13. Princeton

14. Saint Joseph’s

15. Towson

16. Penn

17. Richmond

18. Michigan

19. Delaware

20. North Carolina

THIS COMING WEEK

Conference tournament time

Big East: #1 seed DENVER (Ryan Giles) plays #4 seed Villanova on Thursday, and the winner of that game will play in the Big East Championship Game on Saturday.

Big Ten: As noted above, #4 seed MICHIGAN (Hunter Taylor, Graham Hertzberg) downed #5 seed OHIO STATE (Cullen Brown) and will now face #1 seed Johns Hopkins in a semi-final game on Thursday.  The Big Ten Championship game is scheduled for Saturday.

Patriot League: NAVY (JT Thomas III, Preston Lugar)  plays Loyola in a Patriot League Quarterfinal match.  Semi-Final and Championship games are scheduled for Friday and Sunday

Ivy League:  YALE (Jake Cohen) faces Princeton and PENN (Stephen Bou) goes against Cornell in the Ivy Leage semi-finals on Friday.  The Ivy League Championship game is on Sunday.

NCAA D-I tournament seedings and matches will be announced Sunday evening.  A total of seventeen teams will be in the field—nine automatic qualifiers and eight at-large selections.

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D-III

HIGHLIGHTS

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS–NESCAC

#15 BOWDOIN (Nico Schermer) 14

Williams 4

The Polar Bears iced this game with a seven-goal run that lasted nearly half the game.  Bowdoin shot well and often in the game but the Williams goalie stood tall, making twenty-two saves.

#13 AMHERST (Nicholas Kopp, Oscar Smink) 6

Middlebury 9

Scoring was heavily front loaded in this NESCAC tournament game.  Each team enjoyed three-goal runs over the first ten minutes of the first quarter, the Middlebury nailed four straight goals, but Amherst would not go away.  The Mammoths slow rolled a string of three straight goals—the last of the second quarter, the only one in the third quarter, and the first one of the fourth quarter—to cut Middlebury’s lead to one.  Middlebury netted a pair of goals in the middle of the fourth, then successfully held off another run by Amherst.

Nicholas won seven faceoffs and picked up one ground ball.

BEARS vs BEARS

DENISON (Anthony Savoy) 10

OHIO WESLEYAN (Quinn Coughlan) 8

These top rivals of the North Coast Conference usually meet at the end of the regular season and are often at the top of the conference standings.  Such was the case this year. 

Ohio Wesleyan grabbed the halftime lead with a late goal.  Denison took control of the game after the break with a run of six straight scores in the third quarter.  The Bishops stopped that run with the last goal of the quarter, but could only manage to score twice more before the game ended.

THIS WEEK’S GAMES

#15 AMHERST (Nicholas Kopp, Oscar Smink) 6

Trinity 5

Trinity got off to a 3-0 advantage in the first quarter, but Amherst scored two quick goals in the waning seconds of the period and trailed by one.  In the second quarter, each team scored twice—Trinity the first and last and Amherst two in between.  The Mammoths pitched a second half shutout, and that defense was sorely needed as their attack managed only two more goals—the exact amount needed to get the win.

Nicholas scored Amherst’s last goal of the first half.  He was dominant at the dot, winning ten of fourteen faceoffs and gathering up four ground balls.

#12 BOWDOIN (Nico Schermer) 13

#3 Tufts 16

Bowdoin led early, but Tufts’ five-goal run in the middle of the first half put the Jumbos on top.  Bowdoin closed out the half with four straight scores to take the lead again.  It was then Tufts’ turn to go on a run, first scoring the last three goals of the first half to go up by two at the break, then ripping off another four in a row to start the second half.  The Polar Bears stopped that run with two goals, then the teams matched each other score for score until the Polar Bears netted the last two goals of the day.

COLBY (Colin Flood)14

Bates 11

Colby closed out their 2024 campaign with a win.  The Bates and Colby were evenly matched though the first three quarters, with the game tied ten times and no team having enjoyed a lead greater than a single score.  Colby broke out of that pattern to start the fourth quarter with three quick goals.  That proved to be enough to get the win as the teams reverted into their alternating scoring pattern for the rest of the game.’

#8 DICKINSON (Will Single, Andrew Atkins) 17

Ursinus 8

Dickinson completed a perfect season of play in the Centennial Conference with this win.  The Red Devils took over the game right away, first with a run of three straight scores then, after Ursinus’ first score of the day, another six in a row.  Dickinson stretched their halftime lead of eight out to twelve with the first four goals of the second half.  Ursinus enjoyed a late run of four to trim down Dickinson lead with four goals in the last four minutes of the game.

Will and Andrew each had one ground ball and Andrew won one faceoff.

HAMPDEN-SYDNEY (Owen Hegadorn) 21

Virginia Wesleyan 6

The Tigers wrapped up their regular season with a romp.  Hampden-Sydney’s offense enjoyed two big scoring runs—nine straight goals in the first half and seven straight in the second half.  Meanwhile, the Hampden-Sydney defenders never gave up successive goals to Virginia Wesleyan.

Owen made two saves in goal.

OHIO WESLEYAN (Quinn Coughlan) 29

Hiram 6

The Bishops were up 3-0 in the first quarter when they launched a huge scoring run.  That run of fifteen unanswered goals lasted into the later minutes of the second quarter.  Ohio Wesleyan padded their lead further with runs of five and four goals in the second half.  The Bishops shot prolifically, taking sixty-five shots in the game and putting two-thirds of those shots on goal.

Quinn had a goal and an assist for the Bishops.

#10 WASHINGTON & LEE (Will Bou, Will Abramson) 14

#19 Roanoke 11

The Generals capped a perfect season in ODAC play, but it wasn’t easy.  W&L built a lead with a three-goal run in the middle of the first quarter and a four-goal run consisting of two before halftime and two after.  While the Generals were making these little runs, Roanoke was limited to single goals between.  Roanoke broke that pattern in the middle of the second half that cut the Generals’ lead from six to three.  That was as close as Roanoke would come as each team scored twice more before the final whistle.

Will Bou won one faceoff and scooped up one ground ball.

#10 WASHINGTON & LEE (Will Bou, Will Abramson) 8

#7 Christopher Newport 12

Washington and Lee wrapped up their regular season schedule with a non-conference tournament tune up game against the ascending D-III power Christopher Newport.  The Captains led early with the first two goals of the game then slowly extended their lead with a couple of back-to-back scores while the Generals could only interrupt with single scores.  In the third quarter, W&L put together their first scoring run and trimmed the CNU lead from four to one.  The Generals’ deficit toggled between one and two goals as the teams traded scores.  Christopher then finished out the game with three straight goals.

D-III USILA POLL (4/29)

1. Salisbury

2. RIT

3. Saint Lawrence

4. Swarthmore

5. RPI

6. Tufts

7. Christopher Newport

8. Dickinson

9. Union

10. Babson

11. Wesleyan

12. Washington & Lee

13. Bowdoin

14. Stevens

15. Lynchburg

16. Middlebury

17. Endicott

18. Amherst

19. Hamilton

20. Roanoke

THIS COMING WEEK

Conference tournament time

North Coast Athletic Conference: #1 seed DENISON (Anthony Savoy) faces #4 seed Wooster and #2 seed OHIO WESLEYAN (Quinn Coughlan) faces #3 seed Kenyon in semifinal games on Thursday.  The conference championship game will be on the higher seed’s field on Saturday.

NESCAC: #3 seed BOWDOIN (Nico Schermer) and #4 seed Middlebury square off in a semi-final match on Saturday and the conference’s championship game is on Sunday.  As noted above, #5 seed AMHERST (Nicholas Kopp, Oscar Smink) was eliminated in a quarter-final match. The conference’s top-seeded team, Tufts, was upset in their quarter-final match.

Old Dominion Athletic Conference: top seeded WASHINGTON & LEE (Will Bou, Will Abramson) earned a bye in the first round, while #4 seed HAMPDEN-SYDNEY (Owen Hegadorn) faces #5 seed Randolph Macon in a quarterfinal on Tuesday.  The conference’s semi-final and championship games are on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

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