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BearLaxTraxFax (02.19.18) by John Nichols
BLTF 021918 BY JOHN NICHOLS
Highlights Highlights
Griffin Brown Patriot Player of the Week
Colin O’Brien, Thomas Halm, Brian Menendez and Will Oliver saw their first play of 2018!
D-I
Ivy League play started this weekend and now all 14 teams that we follow have started their seasons. This week’s games included several close contests, four of which saw goals in the closing seconds that either decided the contest or forced overtime.
Bears vs. Bears
#11 Colgate (Griffin Brown) 14
Cornell (Jack Bolen, Colton Rupp, Andrew Fowler) 11
Cornell has won 23 of the 24 match-ups coming into this game with Colgate’s lone win coming in 1964. This meeting was closely contested throughout the first three periods, with the score tied seven times and sitting at 10-10 heading into the final period. Griffin’sthird goal of the day had tied things up at 10 and he then went on to put up three more in the fourth to give Colgate the lead for good. His last two goals came a mere 18 seconds apart. Griffin scored six goals on ten shots (keep shooting!) plus an assist and 5 ground balls. Colton and Jack saw playing time for the Big Red
Other Games
#13 Army (Drennan Green) 14
NJIT 5
Army threw a 6-0 shutout in the second quarter and never gave up more than two goals to NJIT in the other periods to coast to their second lopsided win.
#13 Army (Drennan Green) 9
#11 Rutgers 7
Army tried to administer an early knockout with a five goal run in the first quarter, only to see Rutgers rally back with four unanswered goals during the second period. While Army shot more often and more accurately than Rutgers, the Rutgers goalie kept making saves to keep things close. The Black Knights scored the final two goals of the game to cement the win.
Bucknell (Sean O’Brien, Jarett Witzal, Colin O’Brien) 8
Richmond 9
Bucknell fell to the Spiders in yet another closely contested game. This game was tied seven times with Richmond scoring the winning goal with just 31 seconds left in the game. On the final faceoff, Jarett and Sean teamed up to get a possession for Bucknell, but the Bison turned it over and time expired. Jarett was 12-for-20 on faceoffs and Sean scored twice for Bucknell. Colin O’Brienalso saw his first D-I action.
Cleveland State (Justin Conner) 9 OT
Mercer 10
Cleveland State took advantage of a couple of Mercer penalties to mount a fourth quarter comeback and force overtime, but the Vikings could not finish the job.
Cleveland State (Justin Conner) 9
Bellarmine 13
Bellarmine’s five goal advantage in the second quarter proved to be the difference maker.
Colgate (Griffin Brown) 21
Binghamton 7
Colgate put up 10 goals in the first period of this contest. Consider that in this week’s coverage there were five games in which neither team scored in double digits for the whole game. Griffin scored once on six shots for the Red Raiders.
Dartmouth (Landon McKenzie) 13
Canisius 12
Dartmouth got the early lead in the game, going up by as many as four goals in the first half. Canisius battled back in the second half forcing several ties and going up by one late in the third quarter. Big Green was able to battle back each time Canisius pulled even and then got the game winner with less than two seconds remaining in the contest.
Hobart (Riley McTague, Koko Avedisian) 11
Siena 12
Although this game was not one of those decided by a goal in the closing seconds, Hobart had an extended possession and the opportunity to at least tie the game in the closing minutes and got off five shots, including one that hit a post, but the Statesmen were unable to extend the contest. Riley took one shot and scooped up a ground ball for Hobart.
Jacksonville (Andrew Mitchell, Hunter Sells) 10
#20 Marquette 11
The Dolphins erased Marquette’s three-goal halftime lead by scoring three unanswered goals in the third quarter. From there on out, the teams traded pairs of goals. Jacksonville tied the game up at 10 with just over two minutes remaining and won the ensuing faceoff. Unfortunately, they turned the ball over on a shot clock violation with just under a minute to go and Marquette scored with seven seconds left to get the win. Hunterplayed the entire game in goal for Jacksonville, recording 5 saves. In a curious side note, Jacksonville basketball legend Artis Gilmore was the game’s official scorer.
#8 Johns Hopkins (Sam Lynch) 5
#12 Loyola 12
This game was close in the first half, but the avalanche of goals by Loyola that accompanied the snow storm that swept through Baltimore in the second half turned the game into a rout.
#2 Maryland (Justin Shockey) 13
Marist 7
The Terrapins’ run of five goals in the first period plus a run of three early in the second period were enough to ensure the win.
#2 Maryland (Justin Shockey) 16
High Point 14
Maryland jumped out to a 10-3 lead midway through the second quarter, but still needed to hang on as High Point rallied and pulled within one early in fourth quarter and again with four minutes left. The Terrapins scored with two minutes remaining and held on to win by two.
Michigan (Will Amoroso) 9
Bellarmine 7
Michigan stifled Bellarmine’s offense for most of the game and then withstood Knight’s strong comeback attempt in the fourth quarter.
Michigan (Will Amoroso) 9
Penn 12
The Wolverines took an early 3-0 lead, only to see the Quakers match that. Michigan led by one at the end of the first quarter, but Penn had the scoring advantage in each of the three remaining quarters. Penn’s good goalie play offset Michigan’s faceoff advantage.
Navy (Tom Evans) 7
UMBC 5
Shut out in the first and fourth quarters, the Midshipmen did all the scoring they needed to do in the second and third. Snowy conditions prevailed throughout most of the game.
St. Joseph’s (Thomas Halm) 6
Fairfield 11
Thomas started at attack for the Hawks in his first D-I game. Fairfield controlled the game by dominating faceoffs.
#10 Virginia (Ryan Pride) 13
Drexel 8
UVA scored twice in the game’s first 14 seconds, but Dragons pulled within one in the second quarter, only to see the game slip away as UVA went on a five goal run.
Polls
Colgate moves into the rankings, UVA and Army into the top 10
Note: the USILA Coaches’ poll is released late in the week.
This Coming Week
There are two Bears vs. Bears contest this week as Bucknell (Sean O’Brien, Jarett Witzal, Colin O’Brien) travels toColgate (Griffin Brown) and Cornell (Jack Bolen, Colton Rupp, Andrew Fowler)visits Hobart (Koko Avedisian, Riley McTague)
D-III
Catholic (Asst. Coach Tom Minkler, Sean Feldman) 15
Randolph 10
The Cardinals scored six times in the second quarter and matched that production in the third to improve their record to 2-0.
Marymount (Asst. Coach Wes Lincoln) 7
Methodist 6
In their season opener, Marymount was up 5-1 after three quarters only to see Methodist rally in the fourth quarter to tie things up at 6 with just 32 seconds remaining. Marymount won the faceoff and went man-up when Methodist was called for an illegal body check. The Saints used that advantage to get the game winner with 11 seconds left in regulation. The final faceoff resulted in several flags flying and penalties being assessed to both teams, but no further scoring.
Ohio Wesleyan (Tyler McTague) 7
#5 Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) 12
Ohio Wesleyan plays a very tough out of conference schedule which includes #1 Salisbury, #3 RIT, and #7 Cabrini (plus in-conference foe #14 Denison). The Battlin’ Bishops fell behind 5-0 early and, although they played RIT even from there on out, they could not close that initial gap.
#3 Salisbury (Brian Menendez) 18
Widener 6
The defending D-III champions are off to a strong start to the 2018 season, going 3-0 with an average score of 16-7. Two of those three wins are against teams ranked in the top 20 of the D-III preseason poll.Brian saw his first action of 2018.
Washington College (Will Oliver) 16
Birmingham Southern 7
Will Oliver saw playing time in his first collegiate game and the Shoremen’s first game, and first win, of the 2018 season.
Polls
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