BEARLAXTRAXFAX by John Nichols 02/26/2022

goldenstateservicesj
Mar 30, 2022
9 min read

BLTF 032622

D-I

BEARS vs BEARS

HARVARD (Joey Graham) 19

DARTMOUTH (Brendan Gallagher, Brett Gallagher) 10

Dartmouth was great off the starting line, but it was Harvard that finished strong. Big Green used a three-goal run in the middle of the first period to go up 5-1. By the end of the quarter, the Crimson had trimmed the difference to a single goal. The teams matched score for score in the second until Harvard got two in a row to go up by one at the break. Dartmouth tied the game up again with the first goal of the second half, but the balance of the game was characterized by Harvard runs of three or four goals interrupted once in awhile by single scores for Dartmouth.

Joey played in the game.

DENVER (Ryan Giles) 12

TOWSON (Mo Sillah) 9

The Tigers scored the last four goals of the first quarter and the last two of the second to take at 7-3 lead at the break. By the midpoint of the third period, Denver had erased Towson’s advantage and the score stood at seven all. After a goal for the Tigers stopped that run, the Pioneers put in three straight to go up by two. Towson tightened things up with a single goal, but Denver did all the end-of-game scoring with a pair of man-up goals.

Ryan played in this game.

JOHNS HOPKINS (Joey Epstein) 15

MICHIGAN (Zach Johnson, Graham Hertzberg) 12

The Jays leveraged two three-goal runs in the first half to go up by three at the halftime break. In the second half, the teams thrice traded single scores before Big Blue got back-to-back scores to pull within one of Johns Hopkins midway through the fourth quarter. Hopkins the reeled off four straight goals to effectively put the game out of reach. Michigan scored a pair of goals in the waning seconds of the game but were unable to overcome Johns Hopkins’ advantage.

Zach had two ground balls and one caused turnover for the Wolverines and Joey played in the game for the Jays.

MARYLAND (John Geppert, Matt Kopp) 18

PENN STATE (Nate Buller) 7

Maryland is the last D-I team with a perfect record as Boston U and Cornell were knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten (both losses to Bears teams) this week. Maryland kept their record spotless by scoring the first four goals of the game then scoring thirteen straight in the middle of the game. In the middle two quarters of the game, Maryland had a two-to-one advantage in shots and a three-to-one advantage in shots on goal which translated into a seven-to-one advantage in goals. Penn State softened the blow by scoring the last four goals of the game.

Matt had a caused turnover and John had three ground balls for Maryland.

OTHER GAMES

BUCKNELL (Drew Wellington) 14

Colgate 6

The Bison closed out the second quarter with a five-goal run and that proved to be enough to ensure Bucknell’s first Patriot League win. That first half run was aided by a pair of three-goal runs in the second half. Bucknell put pressure on the Colgate goalie by putting over 70% of their shots on goal while Colgate had just over half of their shots on the mark and only had one instance of consecutive scores.

Drew had three ground balls for the Bison

DARTMOUTH (Brendan Gallagher, Brett Gallagher) 6

Ohio State 12

Dartmouth turned a one-goal deficit into a two-goal lead in the middle of the second quarter, but the Buckeyes scored the last two goals of the first half to knot things up at six all going into the halftime break. The second half was all Ohio State

HARVARD (Joey Graham) 13

Boston U. 10

The Terriers were nipping at the heels of the Crimson throughout the first three quarters of the game until Harvard put together three straight scores in the later stage of the third quarter and then backed that up with a three-goal run in the fourth. The loss bumped Boston U. from the ranks of the unbeaten.

LOYOLA (Cam James) 12

Army 14

A pair of man-down goals opened and closed the first half, a feat that was all the more amazing considering there were only three penalties called in the game. Loyola held Army to single scores in the first half and built a 6-4 halftime advantage by being able to twice score back-to-back goals. The third quarter echoed the first two with Loyola clinging to a one-goal lead heading into the final period. Army went on a four-goal run in the first six minutes of the fourth to go up by three then turned up the defensive pressure on the Greyhounds and prevented successive scores by Loyola down the home stretch.

NAVY (JT Thomas) 14

Holy Cross 8

Four goals in four minutes by Navy in the second period put just enough space between them and Holy Cross, although Holy Cross would close out the first half with a pair of goals. Navy closed out the game with a pair of three-goal runs to cement the win.

PENN (Stephen Bou) 15

Cornell 11

Penn rode two-to-one advantages in faceoffs and ground balls to a key Ivy League win, knocking off previously undefeated Cornell. Penn used those advantages to build a five-goal lead at the half. The Quakers extended their lead with the first two scored of the second half, then Cornell rallied back with a run of four scores. Penn largely erased that effort with a three-goal run that extended their lead back out to six. Cornell rallied in the game’s closing minutes but the clock was not on their side.

YALE (Jake Cohen) 14

Princeton 12

Yale used a five-goal run to take a three-goal lead late in the first half. Princeton closed out the first half scoring and opened scoring in the second half, cutting Yale’s lead to a single goal. The Elis held Princeton at bay by trading single scores after that, but then the Tigers scored three in a row to go up by one. A pair of scores for Yale closed out the third period and put Yale back up by one. Princeton scored first in the final period to tie the game up at eleven all, then Yale came back with another round of back-to-back scores. Yale’s lead held this time as the teams each scored once over the balance of regulation.

Jake aided the Elis’ effort with a pair of caused turnovers. {BEAR65 has removed Jake from Murdock’s Holiday Card list!!!}

D-I USILA POLL

1. Maryland

2. Virginia

3. Georgetown

4. Rutgers

5. Penn

6. Princeton

7. Cornell

8. Yale

9. North Carolina

10. Harvard

11. Ohio State

12. Jacksonville

13. Army

14. Boston U

15. Duke

16. Notre Dame

17. Denver

18. Syracuse

19. Villanova

20. Lehigh

THIS COMING WEEK

With conference play now dominating the schedule, we will be seeing more Bears versus Bears contests in the ursine rich Big Ten and Ivy League. This coming week, Maryland (John Geppert, Matt Kopp) travels to Michigan (Zach Johnson, Graham Hertzberg) and Yale (Jake Cohen) hosts Penn (Stephen Bou).

D-III

AMHERST (Nicholas Kopp) 14 OT

Springfield 15

Amherst won the first and fourth quarters by two goals each and Springfield won the second and third by the same margin. Springfield tied the game at 14 all with just a few ticks under two minutes to go in regulation. Nicholas won the faceoff after that goal, but the Mammoths could not convert on their three shots before the fourth quarter ended. On to overtime which turned out to be a brief one as Springfield won the faceoff and scored on their first shot.

Nicholas won 16 of the 32 faceoffs and scooped up 11 ground balls. He also took two shots, one of which was on-goal.

AMHERST (Nicholas Kopp) 13 OT

Saint John Fisher 14

The Cardinals put the Mammoths in a deep hole early, going up 5-0 in the first three minutes of the game. Amherst came back strong in the second quarter with their own string of five plus two more before the horn for halftime to take a 9-7 lead at the break. The pace of scoring slowed a bit in the third quarter and St. John Fisher was able to tie the game up at 11 all. St. John Fisher took a one-goal lead two minutes into the fourth, but Amherst got the lead back, a minute later and then again with three minutes left in the game to go back up by one. Unfortunately, the Cardinals tied the game up a minute after that.

Each team had scoring chances in the final two minutes of regulation, but a post was as close as either team got. Amherst had good chances in the overtime period, winning the faceoff, putting three shots on goal, and benefiting from a man-up opportunity. However, it was the Cardinals who were able to take advantage of their scant opportunities when they cashed in with 19 seconds showing on the game clock.

Nicholas won 15 of 31 faceoffs and collected six ground balls.

COLBY (Miles Tonkel) 10

Williams 19

After the teams each scored once to start the game, Williams went on a trio of three-goal runs, each stopped by a single score for the Mules. Colby took a small bite out of Williams’ seven-goal halftime led in the third quarter but got no closer as Williams scored five of the game’s final six goals.

Miles played in the game

COLBY (Miles Tonkel) 2

Hamilton 7

Colby got a great effort from their goalie who stopped 12 of the 19 shots that Hamilton put on the cage and the Mules did exactly what a team needs to do to win: shoot often and shoot accurately. What they didn’t count on was the Hamilton goalie saving 24 of their 26 shots on goal.

COLORADO COLLEGE (Max Becker) 11

Cabrini 12

In the first half neither team established any momentum with each team’s lead met or overcome by the other team. After being tied six times in the first half the teams were, predictably, tied at 6-6 at the break. The Tigers got the first score of the second half but that one-goal lead proved to be their last as Cabrini answered with a string of three straight scores. Colorado College tied the game up again with two goals to close out the third quarter. Cabrini opened the final period with a run of three and Colorado College again fought their way back to within one with a pair of goals, the last coming with less than a minute left in the game. Cabrini won the final faceoff and held on for the win.

GETTYSBURG (Billy Banfield) 12

Haverford 2

Haverford had a slight advantage on faceoffs, but that was about it. Gettysburg was almost always in the right place to turn a Haverford ground ball or missed shot into a possession for the Bullets. Consequently, the Bullets were already up 7-0 when Haverford scored their first goal, which came with a minute left in the third quarter. Gettysburg scored thirty seconds later then Haverford got their second of the game just 11 seconds later. Was this advance in the pace of scoring predictive of how the game would finish up in the final quarter? No. Gettysburg dominated faceoffs and wrecked Haverford’s clearing game to pitch a shutout in the final quarter.

SALISBURY (Jace Menendez) 25

Whittier College 5

Whittier interrupted Salisbury’s lengthy runs of goals with occasional single scores. Whittier scored first, but the Gulls got the next six. After Whittier’s second, another four in a row for Salisbury. The Gulls put eleven more in the cage across the full run of the third quarter and into the first minute of the fourth before Whittier scored again. After the teams swapped single scores, the Gulls closed out the game with three scores in a row. Jace had one of the scores in that closing run of three.

TUFTS (Garrett Kurtz) 21

Lynchburg 11

Holding on the ball and scooping cleanly was at a premium in this game as the teams combined for 112 ground balls and 61 turnovers. Scoring in the first half was pretty even with Tufts attempts at runs cut short by Lynchburg scores. That all changed in the second half as the Gulls dominated second half faceoffs 12-2 and outscored Lynchburg 10-2.

Garrett’s one shot on the day was on goal.

TUFTS (Garrett Kurtz) 21

Trinity 10

Soft of a reprise of the Lynchburg, but this time Tufts and Trinity were pretty even in the first quarter (7-6 Tufts at the first break) but in this game Tufts dominated the second through fourth quarters by a margin of 14-4.

Garrett had one ground ball for the Jumbos

WASHINGTON & LEE (Will Bou) 8

Christopher Newport 13

Christopher Newport closed out the first quarter with five consecutive goals. After the teams traded single goals over the first part of the second quarter, the Captains closed out the half with a back-to-back scores. They did the same to start the second half and were now up by seven. The Generals’ ran off three in a row, the last coming with less than four minutes remaining in the game. Christopher Newport scored once more before the final horn.

Will took two faceoffs for W&L.

WASHINGTON & LEE (Will Bou) 11

Roanoke 8

The Generals got the advantage they needed with a five-goal run that covered an eight and one-half minute span from the end of the second quarter to the start of the third. The game’s first half was a low scoring affair with the teams each scoring just three goals. W&L’s run that started the second half kicked the offenses into a higher gear. After the Generals’ run ended, Roanoke trimmed two off the W&L’s lead. Then came a burst of scoring to close out the third, W&L netting three and Roanoke one in the final four minutes of the third quarter. The teams downshifted in the final period, W&L scoring once and Roanoke twice.

D-III USILA POLL

1. RIT

2. Salisbury

3. Tufts

4. Christopher Newport

5. Saint John Fisher

6. York

7. Union

8. Lynchburg

9. Franklin & Marshall

10. Dickinson

11. Bowdoin