BearLaxTraxFax by John Nichols

BLTF 022618

As with every BLTF edition, John Nichols scours the lax records to get the current information about our Bears playing/coaching college lacrosse. John is the father of Tyler L’10. THANKS

D-I

Upsets, high scoring games, low scoring games, overtime games, and two cases of long clearing passes turned into game tying or game winning goals—this week had a lot of great games and great moments.

Bears vs. Bears

Cornell (Jack Bolen, Colton Rupp, Andrew Fowler) 15

Hobart (Riley McTague, Koko Avedisian) 8

Hobart jumped out to a 5-1 lead early in the game only to see Cornell post nine straight goals from the end of the first quarter through the start of the third quarter.  Jack took one shot, but it was blocked and Riley saw playing time for Hobart.

Riley McTague, Harry Laird and Jack Bolen.

#20 Bucknell (Sean O’Brien, Jarett Witzal, Colin O’Brien) 13

Colgate (Griffin Brown) 10

In the Patriot League season opener for both, the teams traded three goal runs in the first quarter, and, after Colgate scored the first two of the second quarter, Bucknell went on four-goal run that gave them the lead for good.  Colgate had the advantage in most statistical categories, but the Bison benefited from their man-down defense, which killed six penalties and gave up no goals, and solid play in goal to get the advantage on the scoreboard.  Seanscored three goals for Bucknell and Jarettwon 12 of the 24 faceoffs.  The Bison defense was able to keep Griffin off the board, blanking him on the six shots he took.

Other Games

#14 Army (Drennan Greene) 10 3OT

#12 Syracuse 11

Army jumped out to 6-1 lead at halftime, but Syracuse’s offense woke up after the break and, propelled by a 6 goal third quarter, tied things up by the end of regulation.  Both teams had scoring opportunities in the first two overtime periods and Army was up a man after a pushing penalty on Syracuse, but several spectacular saves by both goalies kept the game going.  Syracuse won the face off for the third overtime period and won the game a goal assisted by Syracuse’s goalie making a 50 yard clearing pass, hitting the scorer in stride.

Cleveland State (Justin Conner) 8

Air Force 7

The Viking defense foiled the Air Force Academy’s defense over the first three quarters of the game, building an 8-2 lead going into the final period.  Air Force scored 5 unanswered goals in the fourth period to pull within one and the Falcons got off five shots in the final two minutes in an effort to tie things ups, but could not put any of those shots on the cage.   Justin had one ground ball for Cleveland State.  The win was Cleveland State’s first D-I road win.

Cleveland State (Justin Conner) 17

#6 Denver 8

The Vikings’ second outing in Colorado did not go so well as the first.  Denver ran out to a 13-1 lead in the first half.  The Pioneers wrapped runs of six and seven goals around Cleveland State’s lone first quarter score.  The Vikings gathered themselves at the half and gave Denver more of challenge, outscoring them 7-4 over the final two quarters.

Dartmouth (Landon McKenzie) 4

Boston University 10

The Terriers put up four goals in the first and fourth quarters and throttled the Dartmouth offense.

Dartmouth (Landon McKenzie) 11

Sacred Heart 17

Sacred Heart used a dominant effort on face offs to hand Dartmouth their second loss of the season.

Jacksonville (Andrew Mitchell, Hunter Sells) 15

Detroit Mercy 8

This game was tied five times over the first three quarters with neither team ever up by more than one goal.  The Dolphins got the lead on a goal with 2 seconds left in third quarter, then dominated in fourth, winning all the face-offs and converting that advantage into six unanswered goals.  Hunter had 10 saves for the Dolphins, picking up his second win of the season.

Jacksonville (Andrew Mitchell, Hunter Sells) 11  OT

#4 Ohio State 12

Jacksonville led throughout much of this game, but late goals by the Buckeyes, including the tying goal assisted by a 50 yard pass with just two seconds left in regulation, forced the game into overtime.  In overtime, Ohio State won the faceoff but Hunter got possession back to Jacksonville with a save on the Buckeye’s first shot.  Jacksonville turned the ball over and Ohio State got the winner on a fast break run out. Hunter played the whole game in goal, making 7 saves, including that big one on the first shot he faced in overtime.

#19 Johns Hopkins (Sam Lynch) 11

#10 North Carolina 13

The Tar Heels scored four goals in a span of just over four minutes in the middle of the fourth quarter to turn a one goal deficit into a three-goal lead.  Hopkins pulled back within one, but Carolina scored with a minute left to ice the contest.

#2 Maryland (Justin Shockey) 13

Penn 6

The defending champs rode a dominant first half to victory.  Maryland wrapped runs of five and four goals around a pair of Quaker scores to coast to a 9-2 lead at halftime.  Justin took the lion’s share of the faceoffs and had his best out of his freshman season, winning 11 of 17.

Michigan (Will Amoroso) 11

#11 Yale 15

Michigan played highly rated Yale tough, but a six-goal run by Yale, including three in the final two minutes of the third quarter determined the outcome.

Navy (Tom Evans) 10

Boston University 8

These two teams traded brief runs of goals throughout the game, but Navy was able to gain the advantage by scoring five of the last six goals in the game, including the final three, to get a key Patriot League win.

St. Joseph’s (Thomas Halm) 3

Providence 4

But for the strong play of St. Joseph’s goalie who recorded 16 saves, this game would have been a blowout.  Thomas saw some playing time for the Hawks.

#5 Virginia (Ryan Pride) 18

High Point 12

High Point hung with the Cavs in the first half, but UVA’s frenetic pace of play wore them down in the second half.  High Point had a good chance to close the gap midway through the fourth quarter when UVA was called for a full time illegal body check, but the ‘Hoos gave up only one goal and scored two man-down goals during that one-minute period.  Ryan saw playing time for Virginia.

#5 Virginia (Ryan Pride) 18

Princeton 15

The UVA-Princeton rivalry has been on a long hiatus.  The two schools faced each other each year in the regular season from 1992 though 2008, a period when Princeton won six NCAA titles and UVA three, but they have faced each other only once since in tournament play.  Princeton was ready for UVA’s fast pace of play, having battled Lars Tiffany coached teams at Brown.  The teams combined for twelve goals in the first quarter, 20 for the first half, the scoring split evenly.  Virginia opened up the second half with three straight goals, including a man-down goal, to grab a lead they would not surrender.  Princeton pulled within two twice, but could not flip the board in their favor.

Polls

Previous #1 Duke is upset by Penn, making moving Albany and Maryland into #1 rankings.  Bucknell’s win over Colgate moves Bucknell in and Colgate out.

This Coming Week

There just one Bears vs. Bears contest in D-I this week as Bucknell (Sean O’Brien, Jarett Witzal, Colin O’Brien) hosts Navy (Tom Evans) in a key early season Patriot League game.  Jacksonville (Hunter Sells, Andrew Mitchell) travels up the intracoastal to play Vermont at Archbishop Spalding School on Saturday at noon.

D-III

Not as much extremes of scoring in D-III games this week, there were a pair of overtime contests and an upset, and in a bit of an oddity in six of the eight games this week, one team scored exactly 10 goals and in each case those teams lost.

Catholic (Asst. Coach Tom Minkler, Sean Feldman) 10

Hampden-Sydney 14

Hampden-Sydney dominated scoring in the third quarter, putting up eight goals and turning a 4-4 halftime tie into a 12-7 lead going into the final period.  That deficit proved to be too much for the Cardinals to overcome.

Catholic (Asst. Coach Tom Minkler, Sean Feldman) 10

Arcadia 13

Catholic play Arcadia even for much of this game, but Arcadia’s 3-0 advantage in the third period leveraged their two-goal halftime lead out to a five goal advantage which Catholic was able to eat into, but not overcome.

Marymount (Asst. Coach Wes Lincoln) 7

Albright 9

Marymount pitched a 3-0 shutout in the first quarter only to see Albright battle back and tie the game up at the half.  The teams traded goals in the third then Albright got the lead quickly off the initial faceoff of the fourth quarter.  Marymount rallied back into the lead with a pair of goals, only to have Albright close out the game with three straight.

Marymount (Asst. Coach Wes Lincoln) 10

Bridgewater 13

Marymount grabbed at two-goal lead just before the horn sound to end the second half.  Bridgewater started the second half by scoring four straight goals to flip the scoreboard in their favor and held on to win.

Ohio Wesleyan (Tyler McTague) 18

Otterbein 6

The Battlin’ Bishops eight-goal run that ran from the end of the first quarter until early in the third quarter determined the outcome.  Tyler took one shot for OWU.

Ohio Wesleyan (Tyler McTague) 11 OT

Messiah 10

Messiah scored twice in the game’s final three minutes, the last goal coming with 30 seconds left on the clock, to force overtime.  Messiah had the early possession in overtime but a turnover and delay of game penalty gave Ohio Wesleyan that ball and they took advantage of the opportunity to get the winning goal while a man up.

#3 Salisbury (Brian Menendez) 10 2OT

Gettysburg 11

Salisbury forced overtime by scoring the last two goals of the game.  Each team had a chances to take the lead in the closing four minutes and each got a timer on call, but neither scored.  The first overtime period had lots of ground balls and turnovers, but no goals.  Salisbury was caught offside in the closing seconds of the first overtime period, allowing Gettysburg to have possession to start the second overtime.  Although Gettysburg could not convert on the man up opportunity, they were able to net the winner with just over a minute left in the second overtime period.

Washington College (Will Oliver) 10

Washington and Lee 18

W&L’s 6-0 run from late in the second quarter to early in the fourth quarter was the difference maker.  Will saw playing time for the Shoremen.

This Coming Week

Catholic (Asst. Coach Tom Minkler, Sean Feldman) hosts Marymount (Asst. Coach Wes Lincoln) on Wednesday evening in the season’s first D-III Bears vs. Bears contest.  On Saturday our NESCAC teams—Tufts (Luke Kurtz) and Trinity (Spud Dunn)—start their seasons.

Polls

US Lacrosse/Nike:

#7 Salisbury

#9 Tufts

Received votes: Ohio Wesleyan