BEAR LAX TRAX FAX by John Nichols

BEARS LAX TRAX 022221

D-I

Thursday, the Ivy League announced that there will be no men’s lacrosse for member schools in 2021.  Consequently, we will not be reporting on the play of the Gallagher brothers at Dartmouth. 

Congratulations to Joey Epstein of Johns Hopkins–the first Bear to score a goal in the 2021 season.  Griffin Brown of Maryland got the second just a bit later in the day.

THIS WEEK’S GAMES

BEARS VS BEARS

VIRGINIA (Ryan Pride) 15

LOYOLA (Cam James) 12

Home-standing Loyola jumped out to an early 4-1, but Virginia’s five goal run in the second period flipped the score board in the ‘Hoos favor.  Loyola would work back to tie Virginia up two more times, but a three-goal run by Virginia at the end of the third period (including a pair of scores just 19 seconds apart) gave the Cavs a lead which would hold up over the balance of the contest.

Cam saw playing time for Loyola.

MARYLAND (Justin Shockey, John Geppert, Matt Kopp, Griffin Brown) 20

MICHIGAN (Zach Johnson) 9

Maryland enjoyed a five-to-one scoring advantage in each of the game’s first three quarters.  All four Landon alums at Maryland saw playing time in their season opener and Griffin Brown scored his first goal as a Terrapin and also dished out an assist.  Justin continues to be the Terrapin’s FOGO of choice, taking 28 of the game’s 33 faceoff, winning 14 of those 28 and collecting nine ground balls.  John Geppert recorded a pair of ground balls as well. Matt Kopp had playing time.

OTHER GAMES

ARMY (Drennan Greene) 18

Syracuse 11

The Orange jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the first quarter and appeared to be on their way to cruising past Army.  West Point closed out the first quarter with a goal which proved to be the first of a four-goal run.  Army would put together two more four-goal runs, each interrupted by single scores from Syracuse. Indeed, after scoring five straight in the first period, Syracuse could not muster back-to-back goals over the balance of the game.

Drennan saw playing time against Syracuse.

DENVER (Ryan Giles) 10

Marquette 9

Denver withstood Marquette’s attempt at a fourth quarter comeback.  Denver had a four-goal lead early in the game’s final period when the Golden Eagles launched a slow speed comeback.  Fortunately for the Pioneers, Marquette’s goal that pulled them within one of Denver came with just two seconds left in the game.

JOHNS HOPKINS (Joey Epstein) 8

Ohio State 14

The Buckeyes started the game hitting on all cylinders while the Blue Jays stumbled and struggled early on.  Joey recorded his first goal of the season late in the second period.  The Blue Jays found their game in the second half and managed to play OSU to draw over the final two periods. 

Joey took four shots on the day, two of which were on goal, and collected four ground balls.

PENN STATE (Nate Buller) 9

Rutgers 11

In one of the most tightly contested games of the week, this Big Ten match was tied six times and neither team could build a lead greater than two goals.  The Nittany Lions saw a pair of two-goal leads erased in the first quarter and Rutgers gained their first two-goal lead late in the fourth quarter.  After Penn State again pulled within one, Rutgers got the final goal of the game with just under a minute left to cement the win.

TOWSON (Mo Sillah) 7

Duke 19

Duke owned the middle of this game, extending an early 5-2 lead into a 15-2 runaway by scoring ten straight goals from late in the first period to early in the fourth and holding Towson scoreless for almost 35 minutes.  Mo had two ground balls and two caused turnovers for Towson.

ST. JOSEPH’S (Thomas Halm)–Postponed

UMBC

BUCKNELL (Colin O’Brien and Drew Wellington)—Cancelled

Robert Morris

D-I POLLS

Three different teams are ranked #1 this week-Duke, North Carolina and Virginia.

THIS COMING WEEK

We have three Bears vs. Bears contests this week.  Big Ten matches feature Maryland (Justin Shockey, John Geppert, Matt Kopp, and Griffin Brown) against Penn State(Nate Buller) and Johns Hopkins (Joey Epstein) at Michigan (Zach Johnson).  Also, Army (Drennan Greene) hosts St. Joe’s (Thomas Halm).

D-III

GAMES

Colorado College (Max Becker) 18

Colorado State-Pueblo 3

This decidedly one-sided game could have been an even more monumental blow out if not for Colorado State’s goalies’ 22 saves.  Colorado College was up 13-0 late in the second period before CSP got their first score of the game.  Scoring was at a far less torrid pace in the second half.

Max saw playing time in this season opener and Jack Murdock put two of his three shots on goal.

D-III Schedule Update

The NCAC (Oberlin and Ohio Wesleyan) have announced that they are splitting the conference in to two divisions, East and West.  Teams will have home and away contests with each of the other teams in their division.  Ohio Wesleyan (Tyler McTague, Guy King, Cooper Johnson) will be in the West and Oberlin (Farley Price II) in the East.  The NESCAC (Tufts: Kyle Amitay, Garret Kurtz and Colby: Miles Tonkel) and Centennial Conferences (Gettysburg: Mitch Laughlin, Billy Banfield and Dickinson: Gavin Seasholes) schedules have not yet been released.

THIS COMING WEEK

Colorado College (Max Becker) has a pair of games this coming weekend in the Lone Star state to play Southwestern and Dallas.