BearLaxTraxFax 05.08.2023

BEARS LAX TRAX FAX 05082023

Division I

BIG TEN TOURNAMENT—a weekend packed with upsets and a Bear standing tall in the goal.

Semifinals

#4 Michigan (Graham Hertzberg, Hunter Taylor) 17

#1 Penn State 15

Michigan nearly matched Penn State tally for tally in the first half but trailed by two at the break.  The Wolverines outshot the Nittany Lions over the first two quarters, but the Penn State goalie made an impressive ten saves while the Michigan starter only stopped a third of the Lions shots.  Hunter Taylor started the second half in goal and made an immediate impact.  He saved four shots on goal in the third period, providing some opportunities for his teammates who leverage those saves into five straight scores and a three-goal lead.

Hunter saved eight of the thirteen shots he faced and scooped up one ground ball.

#3 Maryland (John Geppert) 14

#2 Johns Hopkins 9

The Terrapins made amends for the regular season loss to the Blue Jays to earn a trip to the championship game.  That regular season game was an even match with Hopkins holding off Maryland’s attempts at rallies.  This tournament clash started off with Hopkins jumping out to an early 3-0 lead.  Maryland got their offense rolling late in the first half and took a two-goal lead at the break.  In the second half Maryland’s lead toggled between one and two goals as the teams traded single scores.  Maryland’s offense broke that trend with three straight scores until Hopkins stopped that mini-run, Maryland then scored twice and extended their lead to five goals early in the fourth quarter.  One more goal for each team and Maryland moved on to the championship game.

John caused one turnover for Maryland.

Championship-Bears versus Bears

#4 Michigan (Graham Hertzberg, Hunter Taylor) 14

#3 Maryland (John Geppert) 5

Fresh from his success in the semifinals, Hunter was back in goal and back vexing shooters.  Michigan’s defense stymied the Terrapin attack, never allowing back-to-back goals to Maryland, a showing made possible by Hunter’s 75% save rate in the game.  Meanwhile, Big Blue constantly built their lead with three and four-goal runs while shutting out Maryland over the last twenty-eight minutes of the game.

John took one shot for Maryland and caused one turnover.

Hunter had fourteen saves and allowed just five goals in the game.  His effort across these two games earned him a slot on the all-tournament team.

BIG EAST TOURNAMENT—Seeds rule

Semifinals

#2 Denver (Ryan Giles) 16

#3 Villanova 9

Denver held the Villanova attack in check and built a big lead across the first three quarters of the game by limiting ‘nova to one goal at a time while tearing off runs of six goals in the first half and four in the second half.  Villanova got their first successive goals of the day with two late scores in the third quarter and two early scores in the fourth.  The Pioneers closed out the game with four of the final five goals of the game.

Ryan had three ground balls for the Pioneers.

Championship

#2 Denver (Ryan Giles) 5

#1 Georgetown 14

The Hoyas ran away from the Pioneers right off the bat.  Georgetown was up 7-0 when Denver got their first goal.  That did not seem to worry Georgetown which scored the last two goals of the first half to lead 9-1 at the intermission.  Denver got the first goal of the second half, but Georgetown rattled off three more to go up by ten.  One more for Denver then the Hoyas ran their lead out to eleven goals with a pair of scores.  The Pioneers trimmed Georgetown’s lead back into single digits with a pair of scores, then the final eight minutes of the game were a stalemate.

Denver’ season ended with the loss as upsets in the Big Ten and Ivy League crowed them out of the at-large field. Last game in the long career of Coach Tierney –Princeton then Denver.

IVY LEAGUE TOURNAMENT—Princeton survives the semis, flourishes in the title game

Semifinals

#4 Yale (Jake Cohen) 22

#1 Cornell 15

Tone was set early in this semifinal match as the teams combined for five goals in the first five minutes.  Play slowed a bit over the balance of the first quarter then Yale came out firing on all cylinders, scoring four times in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the second period.  Big Red returned the favor with four straight in just over three minutes.  Yale wrapped up a frenetic first half with two pairs of goals interrupted by a single score for Cornell.  Yale’s four goal advantage held going into the later part of the third quarter when the Eli leapt ahead with three goals in just thirteen seconds and then netted two more to start the final period.  That ballooned Yale’s lead to nine with thirteen minutes left in the game.  Given the pace of the game, nine goals down with thirteen minutes left did not seem like too big of a deficit.  After a brief lull in scoring, Big Red showed their resolve with a quick four-goal run.  Yale stopped that run with a single goal before Cornell got their last of the day.  Yale finished out with two late goals while running down the clock.

Jake had one ground ball for the Bulldogs.

#2 Penn (Stephen Bou) 8

#3 Princeton 9

A very different game from the Yale-Cornell semi.  In that game, by the time those two teams had scored seventeen goals there were more than three minutes left in the first half.  Penn scored the first two goals of the game, but Princeton closed out the first quarter with three in a row.  After Princeton got their first lead, the game was hit by a sixteen-minute scoring drought.  Penn broke the drought and tied the game up at three a piece, but the Tigers finished the scoring for the half with a late goal.  No one scored in the third quarter until Penn tied the game up at four all with just three seconds left in the period.  Princeton moved back ahead by one with the first score of the fourth then Penn got their first lead since early in the first quarter with a pair of goals.  The pace then got what would be considered frenetic in this game when Princeton netted three in a row, the last two scored just thirty seconds apart, and led by two.  Princeton protected its lead, trading single goals with the Quakers before Penn scored with thirteen seconds left in the game. 

Championship

#4 Yale (Jake Cohen) 10

#3 Princeton 19

So which pace of play would prevail?  Yale’s inclination to race up and down the field or Princeton’s ability to run the game at lower RPMs?  As it turned out, Princeton played the game at Yale’s normal pace and made Yale score much more slowly than they were used to doing.  It did not take long for this game to get rolling.  Princeton had a 2-1 lead forty seconds into the game and the teams combined for nine goals in the first quarter.  First quarter scoring heavily favored the Tigers who led 7-2 at the first break.  Princeton kept the heat on with a six-goal run to start the second quarter and allowed just one late goal to Yale.  Yale kicked off the scoring for the second half, but Princeton extended their lead out twelve with three straight scores.  The Bulldogs then found their game and chipped away at Yale’s lead with five straight scores.  Princeton deflated their hopes with three straight scores before Yale got in one last score.

Jake had one ground ball for the Bulldogs.

PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT

#4 Navy (JT Thomas, Preston Luger) 7

#5 Loyola 12

Navy netted their first goal of the day late in the first quarter after Loyola earned the first two goals of the day.  The Middies would not put another one in the back of the cage for over twenty minutes.  While Navy’s offense struggled, the Greyhounds offense took over the game.  The ‘hounds netted six straight goals during Navy’s dry spell.  Navy broke that run and Loyola scored once in reply.  Now it was Navy’s turn to run.  The Middies ran off five straight goals in a run that lasted until the middle of the fourth period to pull within two.  Loyola finished the game with three straight scores to eliminate any threat from Navy.

The loss ended Navy’s 2021 season.

THIS COMING WEEK

NCAA MEN’S DIVISION I TOURNAMENT

1 seed Duke vs. winner of Delaware vs Marist

2 seed Virginia vs. Richmond

3 seed Notre Dame vs. Utah

4 seed Maryland vs. Army

5 seed Penn State vs. Princeton

6 seed Johns Hopkins vs. Bryant

7 seed Georgetown vs. Yale

8 seed Cornell vs. Michigan

Division III

NESCAC TOURNAMENT—Tufts dominates.

Semifinals—Bears versus Bears

#1 Tufts (Garrett Kurtz) 20

#4 Amherst (Nicholas Kopp) 13

The Jumbos never trailed in the game, but the Mammoths managed to hang with them into the fourth quarter.  Tufts had two short scoring runs in the first half while Amherst top output was two sets of two.  Amherst cut the Tufts lead to three with the last goal of the first half.  In the second half, Amherst scored first while the Jumbos put together successively longer scoring runs after each run-stopping goal for the Mammoths.  By the middle of the third quarter, Tufts had extended their lead to six goals.  Amherst then got their first big scoring streak of the day with four straight goals to cut Tufts’ advantage to just two goals midway through the fourth quarter.  Tufts clamped down and shut down the Amherst attack while wrapping up the game with a five-goal run. 

Nicholas won fourteen of thirty-five faceoffs, scooped up five ground balls, and took one shot.

Championship

#1 Tufts (Garrett Kurtz) 19

#2 Middlebury 6

It took a little while for the Jumbo’s offense to get rolling, but after a scoreless first five minutes, Tufts scored ten unanswered goals.  Middlebury finally got on the scoreboard then ceded six more to the Jumbos.  The Panthers added two more after the run stopper for their only three-goal run of the day.  Unfazed, Tufts came back with three to match, the last of those three coming with almost fourteen minutes left in the contest.  The balance of the contest was relatively tranquil as Middlebury netted the last two goals of the game.

Garrett played in the title game.

Tufts earned the NESCAC automatic qualifier slot in the NCAA DIII tournament.

CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT—Dickinson coasts

Semifinals

#1 Dickinson (Will Single) 19

#5 Franklin & Marshall 11

Dickinson’s first three goals accounted for their longest scoring streak for the day.  Franklin and Marshall held off any big runs, but they couldn’t manage to make any runs of their own until the middle of the third quarter.  That pair of goals cut Dickinson’s lead to four, then the Red Devils responded by wrapping a pair of three-goal runs around a solo score for the Diplomats to extend their lead to nine goals.  Those runs ended any threat to Dickinson and the teams traded single goals over the balance of regulation.

Will had four ground balls and one caused turnover.

#3 Gettysburg (Billy Banfield) 11

#2 Swarthmore 12

The Bullets wrapped up the first quarter with a string of four straight scores, but Swarthmore retook the lead by pitching a 6-0 shutout in the second quarter.  Swarthmore started the scoring for the second half then Gettysburg pulled progressively closer by scoring in small streaks while not surrendering successive scores to Swarthmore.  That incremental progress led to the game being tied at eleven all with three minutes left in the game.  Swarthmore won the faceoff and took the lead back with a minute and forty-five seconds left in the contest.  The Bullets won the faceoff and got off one shot which was saved then Swarthmore was able to run out the clock.

Championship

#1 Dickinson (Will Single) 13

#2 Swarthmore 7

When these two met in April, Dickinson buried Swarthmore with a pair of huge scoring runs.  Neither team had lost since then and the score was closer in this tournament championship game, the result was the same.  Dickinson outscored Swarthmore five to one in the first quarter, but Swarthmore shut out the Red Devils in the second and trailed 5-3 at halftime.  The Red Devils doubled their lead to start the second half, but Swarthmore responded with two scores to pare the Devils’ back to two.  Dickinson delivered the knockout blow with a five-goal run that lasted into the middle of the fourth quarter.  Swarthmore bounced back with a pair of goals but that was the end of the scoring for them.

Will had two ground balls for the Red Devils.

Dickinson’s win qualifies them for the NCAA D-III tournament.

ODAC TOURNAMENT—The Generals get revenge at just the right time

Quarter Finals

#3 Washington and Lee (Will Bou) 22

#7 Shenandoah 8

The Generals beat Shenandoah 25-6 in the teams’ final regular season game.  Not much changed over the intervening six days.  The Generals scored the first eleven goals of the game before Shenandoah recorded their first.  The teams swapped single goals over the balance of the first half.  Washington and Lee started the second half with four straight scores then Shenandoah five in a row.  All that did was cut the Generals lead back to ten goals.  Washington and Lee then negated the Shenandoah run with five of their own over a four minute plus span late in the fourth quarter. 

Will won twelve of thirteen faceoffs and got to four ground balls.

Semifinals—Bears versus Bears

#3 Washington and Lee (Will Bou) 16

#2 Hampden-Sydney (Owen Hegadorn) 4

In the regular season Hampden-Sydney won a four-overtime thriller.  This game was not suspenseful.  The scoreboard stayed stuck at 0-0 for the first nine minutes of the game then Hampden-Sydney netted the first goal of the game.  The Generals punched in three goals to lead by two at the end of the first quarter.  Hampden-Sydney started the scoring in the second quarter but this time Washington and Lee came back with five in a row and led 8-2 at the end of the first half.  In the third quarter, Hampden-Sydney again scored first and Washington and Lee again responded with another scoring run—this one for five goals.  Hampden-Sydney recorded their final goal of the day in the middle of the third quarter then scoring slowed as the Generals netted the last three goals of the game.

Will won thirteen of nineteen faceoffs and backed up those wins with six ground balls.

Championship

#3 Washington and Lee (Will Bou) 12

#1 Lynchburg 11

The Generals lost an overtime contest to Lynchburg earlier in the season and this game was every bit as closely contested.  Washington and Lee got the lead in the second quarter with a four-goal run and that lead held up until Lynchburg tied the game at nine all early in the fourth quarter.  W&L took the lead back when they stopped the Hornet’s run that tied the game, but Lynchburg came right back to forge a 10-10 tie midway through the fourth quarter.  Washington and Lee got their lead back to two goals with a pair of scores.  Lynchburg bounced back to pull within one with two minutes left in the game.  The Generals won the faceoff and ran the clock down inside a minute remaining then turned the ball over.  Lynchburg ended up turning the ball back without taking a shot and Washington and Lee ran out the clock.

Will won three of thirteen faceoffs for the Generals.

THIS COMING WEEK

NCAA MEN’S DIVISION III TOURNAMENT

5/12: Gettysburg vs. Scranton

5/13: Tufts vs. winner of 5/10 game between Maine Maritime and Emmanuel

5/13: Amherst vs. SUNY Geneseo @ Salisbury

5/13: Washington& Lee vs. winner of 5/10 game between Centre and Pfeiffer

5/13: Dickinson vs. winner of 5/10 game between John Carroll and Lake Forest

5/14: Winners from 5/13 play third round games the next day