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BearLaxTraxFax by John Nichols
BLTF 032519
With the arrival of Spring, out-of-conference play is giving ground to conference match ups, particularly in the larger conferences such as the nine team Patriot League. Thus far, only the Big Ten and Colonial Athletic Conference have not yet started in-league play. This coming weekend in the Big Ten, #3 Maryland (Justin Shockey, John Geppert) will play #1 Penn State (Nate Buller) in the conference opener for each.
Joey Epsteinwon the Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor for the second time this season. Joeyscored five goals against Virginia, the most goals in a game by a Hopkins freshman since 2000. Joey is leading the Blue Jays in goals and points and is second in assists. He is also the fourth highest scoring freshman in NCAA D-I men’s lacrosse, currently.
This week in D-III we had our lone regular season Bears vs. Bears contest as #3 Tufts (Luke Kurtz, Kyle Amitay) played Trinity (Spud Dunn).
D-I
BEARS vs. BEARS:
The Doyle Smith Cup:
#7 Virginia (Ryan Pride) 16
#18 Johns Hopkins (Joey Epstein) 11
The ‘Hoos and Jays met for the 93rd time and 73rd consecutive time. Hopkins holds an almost two-to-one advantage in those contests. For the past 14 years, the winner of this game wins the Doyle Smith Cup which honors a man who served as the Hopkins team manager and statistician in the 60’s, then became Virginia’s first full time assistant sports information director. He is the only person in the USILA Lacrosse Hall of Fame who never played the game.
Virginia scored first right off the face off, then the first half settled into a back and forth affair, leading to a six-all tie at the half. The game was tied twice more in the third quarter, but on the heels of UVA tying the game at 8-8, the ‘Hoos scored five of the next six to establish a lead that held up through the final whistle.Joey was the game’s leading scorer with five goals on eleven shots (KEEP SHOOTING!) and three ground balls.
#20 Hobart (Koko Avedisian) 12
Colgate (Griffin Brown) 6
Hobart shut out Colgate for just over 30 minutes of game time and scored six times during the Raiders’ drought. The Statesmen put up another five straight after that to take a commanding nine goal lead. Colgate closed out the game with three straight goals to narrow the margin. Griffin had one goal on six shots and contributed an assist.
#17 Army (Drennan Greene) 13
Colgate (Griffin Brown) 8
Army did not shoot particularly well, but they shot in such volume to overcome the lack of precision.Griffin led all players with four goals and he chipped in with tow ground balls and a caused turnover. Drennan saw playing time for Army.
#6 Loyola (Cam James) 12
Bucknell (Jarett Witzal, Colin O’Brien, Drew Wellington) 7
The Greyhounds jumped out to a 6-0 lead, shutting down the Bison for the first 20 minutes of the game. Loyola benefited from a three-to-one advantage on faceoffs and deadly accurate shooting, putting 80% of their shots on goal.Jarrett was shut out on his six faceoff tries and Drew had five ground balls and a caused turnover.
#1 Penn State (Nate Buller) 15
Cleveland State (Justin Conner) 11
The Vikings put a scare in the #1 ranked Nittany Lions, scoring three straight goals to pull within two with just over nine minutes left in the game. Penn State answered with their own run of three to secure the win. Shooting accuracy was critical in this game. While Cleveland State outshot Penn State, the Nittany Lions put over 70% of their shots on goal while less than half of the Vikings’ shots were on goal.
Other Games
#10 Cornell (Colton Rupp) 18
St. Bonaventure 3
Cornell scored the first six goals of the game before the Bonnies got their first. Big Red then went on a tear of seven more—a total of thirteen goals in the first 19 minutes of the game. Colton had two goals and an assist plus three ground balls.
#10 Cornell (Colton Rupp) 15
#13 Penn 16
Cornell scored first and held a lead continuously through the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. The fourth of the Quakers four straight goals in the closing period turned the game around. Big Red tied the score twice more, only to see Penn take the lead back each time. Penn scored the game winner with 17 seconds left in the game. Cornell won the ensuing faceoff but could not get to goal before time expired. Coltonsaw playing time for Cornell.
Dartmouth (Landon McKenzie) 8
St. John’s 15
St. John’s goalie was the big difference maker in this non-conference tilt. Big Green put over 70% of their shots on goal, but the Red Storms’ goalie stop two-thirds of those shots.
Dartmouth (Landon McKenzie) 9
Harvard 12
Dartmouth scored four consecutive goals to close out the first half and take a one-goal lead into the locker room. Late in the third quarter, Harvard launched a run of six unanswered goals to erase Big Green’s advantage.
#5 Duke (Jack Falk) 8 OT
# 8 Syracuse 9
Syracuse suffered scoring droughts of 29 and 15 minutes and Duke had dry spells of 14 and 24 minutes. The good news for each was that the other team did do much scoring during these prolonged absences of goals. With such a dearth of scoring, Duke’s four-goal lead with six and half minutes left in the game looked pretty secure. Then the Orange turned on the kind of offense for which they are famous, scoring four goals in four-and-a-half minutes to force overtime.
Duke won possession off the overtime faceoff, but ‘Cuse saved a weak shot on goal. Syracuse failed to score on the ensuing possession, then Duke’s final shot was blocked. Syracuse capped their comeback with the game winner with just 41 seconds left in overtime.
Jack had one ground ball for Duke.
Fairfield (Alex Hagerup) 18
NJIT 5
Fairfield scored the first seven goals and the last three to coast to the win. Alex saw playing time for Fairfield.
Fairfield (Alex Hagerup) 8
Villanova 12
Villanova scored two goals in the closing minute of the third period, the outscored the Stags 4-0 in the final period. That run of six goals reversed Fairfield’s two goal lead into a four goal win by the Wildcats.
Furman (Michael Abizaid) 7
Air Force 11
Air Force took command of the game early, scoring the game’s first six goals. Michael won five faceoffs and collected on ground ball.
#20 Hobart (Koko Avedisian) 10
Sacred Heart 9
Hobart’s four goal run in the second period appeared to open up a closely contested game, but Sacred Heart’s own run of four in the third period, which staked them to a one-goal lead, tightened things up again. The Statesmen answering run of three goals was enough to get the win. Sacred Heart scored with 13 seconds left. Hobart’s goalie saved a Pioneer shot as time expired.
With a loss to Cornell as the only stain on their 2019 season, the Statesmen are getting noticed. Hobart cracked the polls this week. This coming week’s game against Syracuse will be a chance for them to boost their out of conference bona fides.
Jacksonville (Hunter Sells, Andrew Mitchell) 12
#15 High Point 10
Duke couldn’t do it, Virginia couldn’t do it, but the Dolphins could. Jacksonville’s defense played havoc with High Point, forcing 19 turnovers which negated High Point’s advantage in ground balls and face offs. Each team had the lead on occasion, but never by more than one goal. Then, early in the third period, Jacksonville broke the game open with five straight scores. Hunterhad seven saves and five ground balls and Andrew took one shot, which was saved.
#3 Maryland (Justin Shockey, John Geppert) 16
North Carolina 9
Single goals here and there by the Tar Heels interrupted short runs by the Terrapins. All in, that led to a commanding 11-3 halftime advantage for Maryland. Justinwas shut out in his three faceoff attempts and Johnsaw playing time for Maryland.
Michigan (Zach Johnson) 9
#12 Notre Dame 12
Despite scoring the first goal of the game, Big Blue trailed for much of the balance of the game until Michigan scored its fourth goal in the third period with just less than a minute to go in the quarter to tie the game at 8 all. Notre Dame squelched this comeback by scoring with just one second left in the third and then the Irish then scored the game’s next three goals to get the win. Zachsaw field time for Michigan.
Michigan (Zach Johnson) 13
Delaware 16
Delaware forged a lead with a three-goal run in the second period, then need a run of four goals to had to build a lead all over again after a Michigan run. Zachsaw playing time for Michigan.
Navy (Thomas Evans, Shane Corcoran) 8
#14 Lehigh 15
Down by one at the half, Lehigh owned the second half, outscoring the Midshipmen 11-3 down the stretch. Navy mustered sufficient fire power to win the game as both teams put 25 shots on goal, but Lehigh’s goalie stopped 17 of shots.Thomashad one ground ball for Navy.
St. Josephs (Thomas Halm) 11
Bryant 6
One of the best lines on a box score: Low 40s, sunny, 35 mph wind gusts, “spring”
St. Joe’s took advantage seven Bryant penalties, cashing in with four man-up scores in seven opportunities.
#10 Towson (Mo Sillah) 6
#9 Denver 7
Each team scored twice in the first two periods, then Towson got their pair in the third but the Pioneers got blanked. The Tigers’ lead didn’t hold up, though, as Denver outscored Towson 3-0 in the final frame with the game winner coming with just over a minute left in regulation. Towson got off one shot after the final face off, but couldn’t convert.
This Coming Week:
This week’s Bears vs. Bears matches are all conference games:
Patriot League
#17 Army (Drennan Greene) vs. Bucknell (Jarett Witzal, Colin O’Brien, Drew Wellington)
#6 Loyola (Cam James) vs Colgate (Griffin Brown)
Big Ten
#18 Johns Hopkins (Joey Epstein) vs. Michigan (Zach Johnson)
Ivy League
#10 Cornell (Colton Rupp) vs. Dartmouth (Landon McKenzie)
Polls:
ESPN Schedule for 2019
ESPN carries many other games on line (ESPN3, ACC Network) and for an additional subscription fee there are games on ESPN+, including Ivy League lax. The Patriot League Network (Loyola, Army, Bucknell, Navy, and Colgate) remains free on line. Big Ten games are available on either the Big Ten Network (BTN) or its pay channel BTN+.
D-III
BEARS vs. BEARS:
#3 Tufts (Luke Kurtz, Kyle Amitay) 25
Trinity (Spud Dunn) 12
With Trinity putting up some big scores this year, it’s likely that the Bantams thought this year was their year to beat Tufts, considering that Tufts had rally in the fourth quarter to beat Trinity by two last year. That turned out not to be the case.
This year, lacrosse balls were flying with these NESCAC foes taking 116 shots in total, 69 of which were on goal. With the two teams posting 69 ground balls and 45 turnovers, bodies were flying all over the place as well. Luke had three ground balls and a caused turnover and Spud took one shot.
Other Games
Catholic (Tommy Minkler-Grad Assistant, Sean Feldman) 11
Elizabethtown 6
The Cardinals scored five straight goals to go up 5-1 at the end of the first quarter. They needed another five-goal run to close out the game after Elizabethtown evened things up in the second period.
#1 Salisbury (Brian Menendez, Jace Menendez) 18
Geneseo 3
The Seagulls scoring wound down as the game progressed, but with a six-goal rush to start the game, scoring one less in each succeeding period really didn’t hurt their prospects at all. Both the Menendez brothers saw playing time with Brian scooping up one ground ball.
Trinity (Spud Dunn) 10
Roger Williams 7
Trinity scored the last three goals of the game to pick up a non-conference win. The game was originally scheduled as Trinity’s season opener, but it had to be delayed due to weather. Spud took two shots, one of which was on goal.
Trinity (Spud Dunn) 20
UMass-Boston 3
The Bantams rushed out to an early lead, scoring eight unanswered goals in the first period. UMass-Boston opened the scoring in the second period, only to see Trinity put six more past the Beacons’ goalie.
#3 Tufts (Luke Kurtz, Kyle Amitay) 19
Stevenson 7
Midway through the first period the teams were tied at three, then the Jumbos let loose with a run that saw them post nine goals over thirteen minutes of game time. Tufts and Stevenson put the same number of shots on goal (28), but the Jumbos’ goalie stopped 19 of those shots. Luke started at midfield for Tufts.
Washington College (Will Oliver) 14
#10 Dickinson 19
The Shoremen jumped out to a five-goal lead in the first quarter on the strength of seven goals. When Dickinson scored eight to Washington’s one in the second, the game tilted towards the Red Devils. Dickinson padded their lead in each of the subsequent quarters.
USILA Coaches’ Poll:
#1 Salisbury (19 of 22 first place votes)
Inside Lacrosse Media Poll:
#1 Salisbury (unanimous)
#3 Tufts
Nike/US Lacrosse Poll:
#1 Salisbury
#3 Tufts
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