BearLaxTraxFax by John Nichols 04/23/2019

BLTF 042219

D-I

We are down to the final week of regular season play.  Across the many conference we follow in Bears Lax Trax Fax, several teams have locked up slots and many will have their fates determined by the out come of games to be played this coming week.

BEARS vs. BEARS:

#1 Penn State (Nate Buller) 20

#16 Johns Hopkins (Joey Epstein) 9

Penn State sealed the game with a run of six goals in just over six minutes from the end of the third period to the start of the fourth.  The Nittany Lions had a distinct advantage on both shooting volume and shooting accuracy as Penn State put 65% of their shots on goal while Johns Hopkins challenged the goal with just 43%.  Even if the Blue Jays had scored on every shot they put on goal, they still would have lost this game by one.

Joey had one assist for the game and took six shots, two of which were on goal.

#8 Loyola (Cam James) 13

#17 Army (Drennan Greene) 9

Army started fast, but the Greyhounds finished strong.  The Black Knights put home the first three goals of the game the Loyola made a bit of a comeback in the second period, but Army was still up by two at the half.  Loyola took control of the game in the second half, using a run of four consecutive goals to start the third period to up by two.  Army was able to pull within one goal on two more occasions, but when Loyola scored four straight in the fourth quarter, the game was decided.

Both Loyola and Army have earned slots in the Patriot League tournament.

Jacksonville (Hunter Sells, Andrew Mitchell) 11

Furman (Michael Abizaid) 10

Andrew Mitchell                                                      Hunter Sells

The Dolphins jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter, but Furman battled their way back into the game with strong second and fourth quarter performances.  The Paladins managed to tie things up at 9 all with seven minutes left in regulation only to have Jacksonville score twice in less than a minute to rebuild their lead.  Furman scored to cut that lead back to one, but, after the Paladins won the final face off, their turnover and a penalty allowed Jacksonville to run out the clock.

Hunterhad six saves, two ground balls and a caused turnover and Andrew had two ground balls and took one shot.  Michaelwon one of his four face offs.

With the win, Jacksonville assured themselves of a slot in the SoCon tournament.

Other Games

Bucknell (Jarett Witzal, Colin O’Brien, Drew Wellington) 12

Lehigh 10

Bucknell picked up a huge win over one of the top teams in the Patriot League.  The Bison jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first quarter after scoring the game’s first three goals.  They needed every bit of that advantage to survive Lehigh’s furious second half attempt at a comeback.  The Mountain Hawks were able to fight back to tie in the closing seconds of the third quarter, but Bucknell opened the scoring for the final period and, after Lehigh got the game tied again, the Bison put up two scores and shut out Lehigh down the stretch.  Key to Bucknell’s success in closing out the game were the six saves made by the Bison’s goalie over the final ten minutes of regulation.

The upset win keeps Bucknell in the hunt for one of the two remaining slots in the PLL tournament.

Jarett won eight of 25 faceoffs and both he and Drewhad two ground balls.

Cleveland State (Justin Conner) 17

Utah 8

Cleveland State’s four goal advantages in the first and third periods, driven by a strong effort on face offs and tough goal tending, propelled the Vikings to the win, improving their 2019 record to 7 wins against 7 losses.

The Vikings, in just their third year of D-I men’s lacrosse, have a shot at their first winning season this coming weekend when they wrap up their season against Detroit Mercy.  In 2017, Cleveland State’s first season, the Vikings got their first D-I win in the last game of the season, also against Detroit Mercy.

Colgate (Griffin Brown) 16

Lafayette 7

A pair of five-goal runs by the Raiders determined the outcome of this PLL contest.  But for a single score by Lafayette, the Raiders would have scored ten straight.   Colgate had distinct advantages on face offs and ground balls and proved that the volume of shots may be important, but the accuracy of shots is critical.

Griffin scoured three goals on seven shots, six of which were on goal.

#10 Cornell (Colton Rupp) 12

Brown 9

Cornell dominated the scoring in the first half then had to hold on while Brown rallied back in the second half.  A pair of three-goal runs in the second half pulled Brown within one, but Cornell stopped that comeback attempt and used their own run of three goals in just over three minutes to ensure the win.

Dartmouth (Landon McKenzie) 6

Penn 22

Penn sits alone atop the Ivy League standings and Dartmouth got to feel the wrath of the Quakers.  Big Green could only post single goal interruptions to Penn’s runs of five (twice), three, and seven goals.

#3 Duke (Jack Falk) 10 OT

Marquette 9

This neutral site match at Bethpage High School turned out to be surprisingly close.  The game was tied seven times and, while Duke enjoyed two two-goal leads earlier in the contest, it was Marquette that was out in front midway through the fourth quarter.  Duke tied the game up for the seventh time then both teams had scoring opportunities but no scores over the balance of regulation.  Overtime was a similar back and forth affair with turnovers and missed shots until Duke pulled out the win with just over thirty seconds left in overtime.

Jacksaw playing time in Duke’s regular season finale.

Fairfield (Alex Hagerup) 8

U Mass 17

The Stags were in a 7-0 hole midway through the second period when they got their first score.  Surprisingly, both shots and shots on goal were nearly identical for the teams, but twenty-one saves by the Minutemen’s goalie doomed Fairfield.

Hobart (Koko Avedisian) 11

Mount St. Mary’s 8

Hobart picked up an edge in the race for the #1 seed in the NEC tournament.  The Statesmen scored a pair of quick goals in the middle of the first period to go up by two.  The Mount could occasionally trim that lead back to one, but Hobart always had a response.  In the third period, Hobart stretched their lead out to 5 with a run of three only to see The Mount respond in kind and reset Hobart’s lead to two.  That’s a close as they’d get, though.

Koko took three shots for the Statesmen.

#2 Maryland (Justin Shockey, John Geppert) 10 OT

Ohio State 9

Maryland scored the first four goals of the game and held the lead until late in the fourth when the Buckeyes put together their second three-goal run of the second half—this one seeing three scores in just 1:55 of game time.  As time wore down, it appeared that the Terrapins would suffer the upset, but Maryland turned an OSU turnover into a goal with just 23 ticks left on the clock.  Neither team could mount an attack after the final face off of regulation, so on to overtime.

Justin won the face off to start overtime and the Terrapins converted on their first shot.

John Geppert had two caused turnovers and three ground balls with one of his turnover/ground ball combinations leading to the goal that put Maryland up 8-6 midway through the fourth period.

Michigan (Zach Johnson) 9

Rutgers 11

While Rutgers had a 3:1 advantage on face offs and the edge in ground balls, this close game came down a few more saves by the Scarlet Knights’ goalie.

Navy (Thomas Evans, Shane Corcoran) 9

Syracuse 18

Seven consecutive goals by the Orange over a ten-minute span that covered the end of the first half and the start of the second blew open what had been a closely contested first half.  The team stats in the box score indicate that this should have been a very close game, but the “saves” line tells the story where the Orange had a 16 to 10 advantage.

Thomas started on defense for Navy.

Navy is one of four teams caught in the log jam for the final two slots in the Patriot League tournament.

St. Joseph’s (Thomas Halm) 14

Wagner 6

St. Joe’s finished out the first half with a six-goal run to take a four-goal lead into the locker room at halftime.  After splitting the third period scoring with three for each team, St. Joe’s finished the game off with four unanswered goals in the fourth quarter.  The Red Hawks dominated possession with large margins on face offs and ground balls which led to a notable advantage in shooting.

St. Joe’s wraps up their regular season schedule this coming weekend with a game at Mount St. Mary’s, one of two teams leading the NEC conference.  Having lost to both of the other teams that are contesting for the last two slots in the NEC tournament, St. Joe’s needs a win to improve their chances of making the tournament.

#13 Towson (Mo Sillah) 14

Delaware 12

Towson made noise early in the season with key wins over hometown rivals Loyola and Johns Hopkins, but had found the going tough lately.  Meanwhile, Delaware was in the process of quietly building a commendable record.  This game thus became a key match between two of the top teams in the Colonial Athletic Association.  Delaware took the early lead, but Towson battled back in the second period to go up by one at the half.  The Tigers came out of the locker room hot, scoring the first five goals of the second period.  After that the Blue Hens would get as close as two, but no closer.

Mo had one ground ball for Towson.

One of three teams with 3-1 records in league play for the Colonial Athletic Association, Towson is assured of a place in the CAA tournament.

#6 Virginia (Ryan Pride) 24

VMI 5

UVA scored the eleven goals in the first ten minutes of the game and a total of 14 in the first quarter, including a man-down goal. Ryan saw playing time on the wings for some face offs as well as time as a defensive middie.

#6 Virginia (Ryan Pride) 22

Marist 6

Virginia started all seniors in their last regular season home game and the Red Foxes took advantage of the unusual line up, scoring the game’s first goal just 29 seconds into the game.  After a wave of substitutions, UVA took over the game scoring three goals over a two-minute stretch.  After Marist got their second, the Wahoos put together another run of three goals in two minutes.  As it turned out, that was just about all that was needed.

Ryan again saw playing time on the wings for some face offs as well as time as a defensive middie.

This Coming Week:

Bears vs. Bears:

Johns Hopkins (Joey Epstein) vs. Maryland (Justin Shockey, John Geppert)

While Maryland looks locked in as the #2 seed in the Big Ten tournament, a win by Hopkins could upset the seeding picture.  If Maryland beats Hopkins, there is a good chance that Hopkins will end up tied with two other teams that are searching for the two lower seeds in the tournament and very much in need of favorable tie-breakers to extend their season.

Colgate (Griffin Brown) vs. Bucknell (Jarett Witzal, Colin O’Brien, Drew Wellington)

This game will potentially have some impact on the seedings for the PLL tournament as Holy Cross, Bucknell and Navy are all tied with 3-4 conference records currently and trying to get the two remaining seeds for the PLL tournament.  Colgate is one game back to that pack but still in contention as well.  Four of the six slots are already taken by Loyola, Lehigh, Army and Boston U. so the four previously mentioned teams are fighting it out for the two remaining slots.

Tournament Time

The ACC tournament starts this week.  To correct last week’s note about the ACC tournament: The outcome of the UNC vs. Notre Dame game this weekend determined the fifth seed and set a three-way tie between Duke, Syracuse and the winner of that match up.  With Notre Dame beating UNC 12-10, the three teams that finished with 2-2 records in conference play are Duke, Syracuse and Notre Dame with UNC as the fifth seed.  Each of the teams tied with 2-2 conference records were 1-1 against the other, so the tie was broken on the basis of Duke being the only team to have beaten UVA (gets them the #2 seed) and then Notre Dame having beaten Syracuse head-to-head made the Irish the three seed and Syracuse the fourth.  In past years, the ACC tournament has been a week ahead of the other conference tournaments, but this year’s championship game will take place on the same weekend as all other D-I men’s lacrosse conferences.

D-III

Catholic (Tommy Minkler-Grad Assistant, Sean Feldman) 8

Susquehanna 11

The Cardinals dropped their regular season finale.  They attempted a comeback late in the game but their 3-0 advantage in the fourth quarter only served to cut Susquehanna’s lead in half.  Still, there is good news for Catholic which qualified for the final slot in the Landmark conference tournament the first weekend in May.

#3 Salisbury (Brian Menendez, Jace Menendez) 9

#2 York 11

The last of the D-III unbeatens fell when York downed the Seagulls.  York’s run of four goals in four minutes in the middle of the second period spotted them to a lead that Salisbury was not able to overtake.  The Seagulls fought back in the second half and pulled with two goals three times in the second half.  On the first two of such occasions, York squelched the rallies with their own goal and time ran out on Salisbury on the third instance.

#3 Salisbury (Brian Menendez, Jace Menendez) 26

Southern Virginia 9

This game got off to a slow start-no scoring over the first ten minutes—then Salisbury opened up their offense, scoring six goals in two minutes and forty-eight seconds of game time—the equivalent of a goal every 28 seconds.  The Gulls put together another blitz—this time 8 goals in just over 8 minutes (a more moderated pace of a goal every 61 seconds).

Both Brianand Jace played in this game with Brian credited with one ground ball.

Salisbury is currently second in the Capital Athletic Conference standings and is assured of a bye in the first round of the CAC tournament if they beat St. Mary’s this weekend.  Otherwise, they would be thrown into a three-way tie with St. Mary’s and Christopher Newport and subject to the Byzantine operations of the CAC tie breakers.

Trinity (Spud Dunn) 11

Colby 12

These two teams were bound and determined to send this game into overtime.  After one period, the score was tied at 3 all, then at 7-7 after two, 8-8 after three and 11-11 at the end of regulation.  Unfortunately for one team, overtime can’t end in a tie.  Colby won the overtime faceoff and got the winning shot home seconds before the shot clock expired.

The NESCAC runs an eight team season ending tournament.  Despite having a tough draw for the regular season finale on Wednesday against Amherst, Trinity appears to be assured of making the tournament as no worse than the #8 seed.  Those first round games won’t be set until the conclusion of the league’s regular season schedule on Wednesday, then those first round games will be played on Sunday.  In all likelihood, this first round game will be a Bears vs. Bears match between Tufts and Trinity.

#4 Tufts (Luke Kurtz, Kyle Amitay) 19

#14 Bates 14

Tufts tried to run away with the game in the second period, scoring the first five goals over the first five of the frame, but Bates matched that output over remaining ten.  Tufts came out of the break scoring the first four of the second half and this time Bates couldn’t match them goal for goal.  After that opening salvo, teams traded goals with neither team ever netting more than two in a row until the Jumbos scored three straight to close out the game.

Lukehad one assist for Tufts.

#4 Tufts (Luke Kurtz, Kyle Amitay) 23

Middlebury 14

Tufts and Middlebury were in a back and forth contest until midway through the third period.  For most of that time, the score was either tied (at each interval 1 through 7) or Tufts was up a goal.  Middlebury had a lead for a brief time in the first period, but never again after that.  After a couple of exchanges in which the Jumbos would score twice and Middlebury once, Tufts was able to craft a more sustainable lead.  Still, with Tufts up just three with over 11 minutes left in the game, the outcome was still up for grabs.  The Jumbos grabbed the win by closing out the game with a run of six consecutive goals to turn a close contest into a run away.

Lukehad one goal for Tufts.

Washington College (Will Oliver) 10

#16 Franklin & Marshall 18

The Shoremen were holding their own against a nationally ranked opponent well into the second period the Franklin & Marshall went on a 10 goal run, scoring the last four of the first half and the first six of the second half.  Washington broke their twenty-four minute scoring drought to start the final period and outscored F&M for the fourth, but that only made the final outcome a bit less lopsided.

USILA Coaches’ Poll:

#3 Salisbury

#4 Tufts (2 first place votes)

Inside Lacrosse Media Poll:

#1 Salisbury (unanimous)

#4 Tufts

Nike/US Lacrosse Poll:

#3 Salisbury

#4 Tufts