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BearLaxTraxFax 04.17.17 by John Nichols
BLTF 041717
BEARS vs. BEARS
Princeton (Mark Strabo) 16
Dartmouth (Landon McKenzie)
Dartmouth looked ready to shock the world after earning a 5-3 halftime lead over the high scoring Tigers. The Princeton offense erupted in the second half, scoring 13 goals while their defense allowed just one. Dartmouth pulled back within one at 7-6 midway through the third quarter, then Princeton scored nine straight to close out the game. Landon had a ground ball pickup and shot to end of the third quarter.
OTHER GAMES
Bucknell (Sean O’Brien, Jarett Witzal) 11
Lafayette 7
Bucknell dominated third quarter outscoring 7-2 Lafayette in what was an otherwise closely contested game. Jarrett’s execution on faceoffs was critical as he won 17 of 21, with a 7-for-9 performance in that third quarter rally. He also had 10 ground balls on the day. Sean chipped in with one assist which came on Bison’s first score of their third quarter rally.
With a win against Lehigh this coming week, Bucknell will end up in a three-way tie for the last two slots for the Patriot League tournament. However, it looks like the tie breakers are not in their favor.
Cleveland State (Justin Conner) 13
Walsh 7
The Vikings picked up a win against a D-II opponent. Justin saw time on the field and Cleveland State had the good fortune to play deep into their roster in a blowout win, as the Vikings were up 12-1 after three quarters.
Colgate (Griffin Brown, Robby Dunigan) 11
Holy Cross 12
Holy Cross jumped out to a 6-1 lead, but Colgate fought back steadily and took an 11-10 lead half way through the fourth quarter. The Crusaders scored the last two goals of the game and while the Raiders forced 3 turnovers and took two shots (including one by Griffin which was on goal, but saved) in last 3 minutes of regulation, they could not force a tie. Griffin had a goal and an assist and Robby contributed an assist as well. The loss takes Colgate out of the running for the Patriot League tournament.
Cornell (Marshall Peters, Jack Bolen, Colton Rupp) 8
Syracuse 15
The Orange outscored the Red 10-1 in the game’s middle quarters in this classic upstate rivalry game. The game suffered from more than a bit of chippiness as the officials called 11 personal fouls, five of which were for unsportsmanlike conduct. Colton scored once for Cornell and Marshall had 5 ground balls and 2 caused turnovers.
Cornell (Marshall Peters, Jack Bolen, Colton Rupp) 16
Lehigh 11
Big Red as able to overcome a dismal performance at the face-off X, as Lehigh won 24 of 30 faceoffs. Colton had a very productive day, scoring once and dishing out 3 assists. His first assist tied the game at 6 and his second assist gave Cornell a lead they would not surrender. Marshall came in from the wings and took three faceoffs but, like his teammates, came up dry. He did, however score once for Cornell, the game’s final goal. Jack had one ground ball for the game.
Dartmouth (Landon McKenzie) 14
UMass-Lowell 8
Dartmouth picked up their second win of the season. Landon scooped up a ground ball in this mid-week non-conference tilt.
Hobart (Riley McTague, Koko Avedisian) 13
Bryant 6
Hobart improved to 3-1 in Northeast Conference play. A defensive struggle in the first half gave way to an offensive showcase in the second half.
Jacksonville (Andrew Mitchell, Zac Buller) 13
Mercer 7
After starting the season 0-9, the Dolphins have won their last two contests. Andrew Mitchell continues to start on defense for Jacksonville. If the Dolphins can win out in their last two games, they appear set to qualify for the fourth seed in the Southern Conference tournament.
Johns Hopkins (Sam Lynch) 13
Penn State 11
Johns Hopkins is going about restoring order in the Big Ten. Going into conference play, Penn State was undefeated and the #1 ranked team in the country while the Blue Jays were coming off a series of 3 losses in their four preceding games. The win raises Hopkin’s Big Ten record to 2-1 while Penn State falls to 1-2. The Blue Jays built a 10-5 lead in the first half then had to withstand the Lion’s second half comeback. On the strength of 5 fourth quarter goals, Penn State pulled within one with 1:20 remaining, but Hopkins got an insurance goal with 37 seconds left in regulation and held on for the win.
Navy (Tom Evans) 10
Army 6
Every team at these two schools circles these match ups. This game was particularly critical for Navy as the win raised their Patriot League record to 4-4, ensuring a seeding in the league tournament which will be played at the end of this month. A loss would have left them out of the running. Army plays Loyola this coming weekend for the #1 seed in tournament.
Penn (Garrett Fellows, Peter Laco) 14
Harvard 10
Penn stayed in the hunt for a slot in the Ivy League tournament, chasing Brown and Cornell. Those two teams, each 2-2 in conference play, face each other next week. Penn and Brown finish out against Dartmouth over the next two weeks while Cornell faces Princeton in its last regular season game.
The Quakers outscored the Crimson 5-1 in the second and fourth quarters.
Princeton (Mark Strabo) 10
Lehigh 15
Lehigh wrapped two five goal runs around the Tigers’ only first half goal. Princeton’s offense got more on track in the second half, but not enough to get out of that hole.
Virginia (Jason Murphy, Jack Falk, Michael Rhoads) 13
Robert Morris 7
Virginia hosted Northeast Conference leader Robert Morris in the ‘Hoos final regular season home game. Coach Tiffany started all seniors in the game, including Michael. Jason had a strong game at the faceoff X, winning 12 of 15, scooping up four ground balls and taking one shot.
Virginia (Jason Murphy, Jack Falk, Michael Rhoads) 11
Duke 20
UVA closed out their regular season was a resounding loss to Duke. UVA last won an ACC regular season game in 2014 (a win over Syracuse on March 1). The Blue Devils raced to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter and coasted from there. Virginia’s clearing game was an achilles heel and goalie play, which had been improving, did not hold up under the barrage of shots from the Blue Devils. Jason was 5-for-11 on faceoffs and scored once for the Cavaliers and Michael Rhoads saw time on close defense and as a wing man on faceoffs.
UVA has next weekend off and will play against Penn on the 29th as part of the ACC tournament weekend. UVA dropped and 11-10 decision to Penn earlier this season.
D-I POLLS
UVA falls out of the TOP 20 in all three rankings, leaving Princeton and Johns Hopkins as the only ranked teams with Landon alums on the roster.
Tournament Predictions:
Saturday, The NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament Selection Committee released a list of the top ten teams most likely to be in the NCAA tournament this year, based on games played through April 9. Note that at least 6 of these teams will get there via at-large bids (all ACC teams and three of the four Big Ten teams) and that there are just 8 at-large bids this year.
Syracuse-ACC
Denver-Big East
Maryland-Big Ten
Notre Dame-ACC
Penn State-Big Ten
Ohio State-Big Ten
Duke-ACC
Johns Hopkins-Big Ten
Hofstra-Colonial
Albany-America East
LaxPower’s more up-to-date prediction model estimates probabilities for both automatic qualifier bids and at-large bids. Based on those probabilities, here is what the NCAA tournament field looks like:
Automatic QualifiersAt-Large
Albany-America East Duke-ACC
Maryland-Big Ten Johns Hopkins-Big Ten
Towson-Colonial Notre Dame-ACC
Yale-Ivy Ohio State-Big Ten
Monmouth-Metro Atlantic Penn State-Big Ten
Robert Morris-Northeast Syracuse-ACC
Loyola-Patriot Hofstra-Colonial
Richmond-Southern Conference Rutgers-Big Ten/UNC-ACC
Denver-Big East
THIS COMING WEEK, BEARS VS. BEARS
Dartmouth @ Penn
D-III
Marymount (Asst. Coach Wes Lincoln) 18
Wesley 10
Marymount buried Wesley with a 10-1 scoring explosion to start the game.
Marymount (Asst. Coach Wes Lincoln) 10
Mary Washington 15
In a reversal of fortune, Marymount saw Mary Washington race out to a 10-1 advantage in the first half.
Ohio Wesleyan (Tyler McTague) 29
Wabash 3
Wabash scored first, then OWU scored 24 times. Tyler had a goal (the 24th of the Battlin’ Bishops run of 24) on three shots plus pair of ground balls.
Ohio Wesleyan (Tyler McTague) 8
Denison 12
This game matched the top two teams in the North Coast Conference and sets the stage for the all-important conference tournament. OWU got out to an early 7-1 lead, but Denison took control from there, outscoring the Battlin’ Bishops 11-1 over the balance of the game.
Salisbury (Brian Menendez) 17
York 10
#1 Salisbury handily defeated #3 ranked York in the final regular season conference game for the Gulls.
The win makes Salisbury the #1 seed in the Capital Athletic Conference Tournament with York as the #2 seed. Quarter final games will be played on Wednesday with the winners of those games traveling to face Salisbury and York in the semi-finals on Saturday, the 22nd. The championship game is a week later at the higher seeded team’s field.
Salisbury (Brian Menendez) 10 OT
Cabrini 11
The Seagulls fell from the ranks of the unbeaten in their regular season finale against a highly regarded non-conference foe, #14 Cabrini. Salisbury won the first half 6-4, then Cabrini took the second half by the same score, setting up overtime. Salisbury won the faceoff in OT, and put a shot on goal that was saved by the Cabrini goalie. The Cavaliers successfully cleared the ball and got the game winner on their second shot in overtime.
Trinity (Spud Dunn) 7
Wesleyan 13
A low scoring first half gave way to better offensive production from both teams in the second, with Wesleyan having the upper hand.
Trinity (Spud Dunn) 7
Middlebury 11
Trinity had a 6-5 advantage at the half and were looking for their first NESCAC win. Middlebury controlled the second half of the game, outscoring the Bantams 6-1.
Tufts (Luke Kurtz) 21
Amherst 15
Salisbury’s loss to Cabrini opened the door for Tufts to take over the #1 ranking, but Amherst shut that door in their face. While Tufts gave up 21 goals, their goalies combined for 26 saves, so things could have been much worse for the Jumbos. Luke took one shot in the game and gathered up 2 ground balls.
The NESCAC is a devastatingly tough conference with the top 4 teams only having suffered 5 losses so far this year with the one out of conference loss coming against #4 RIT.
D-III POLL
Despite losing this week, Salisbury held onto the #1 ranking in the USILA D-III Coaches’ poll. However, Salisbury saw their votes for that #1 slot cut in half with now #2 Bates being the prime beneficiary. Tufts dropped to #3 and Ohio Wesleyan again received votes, but not enough to get back into the Top 20.
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