BearLaxTraxFax by John Nichols

BLTF 030319

D-I

The new 80 second shot clock, changes in rules on clearing, and the return of the dive appear to have had a marginally positive impact on scoring in D-I men’s lacrosse this year.  The new shot clock rules tend to favor more accurate shooting and more aggressive rides while the return of the dive has created a new high risk/reward play.  On the dive, players must dive away from the goal mouth with failure to do so negating any goal and resulting in a one minute unsportsmanlike penalty against the offensive player.  Thus far the evidence from scoring indicates a small, but statistically significant increase in scoring when comparing February 2018 and February 2019 scores.

Of special note this week, Drennan Greene of Army scored his first collegiate goal!

BEARS vs. BEARS:

#7 Towson (Mo Sillah) 12

#1 Loyola (Cam James) 10

The Tigers captured the imaginary Charm City round robin and upset the Greyhounds, the consensus #1 ranked team in D-I coming into the game.  Towson had a huge advantage on faceoffs but was unable to translate that into a proportionally equivalent advantage on the score board.  Two early goals for Towson staked the Tigers to a lead they didn’t give up until a three-goal run by Loyola knotted the game at 6 all.  Towson answered with a pair of goals, one thirty seconds before the end of the third quarter, the other thirty seconds into the fourth, to retake the lead.  Loyola pulled within one on three occasions after that, but the Tigers always replied with a score of their own to extend the lead back to two.

Navy (Thomas Evans, Shane Corcoran) 14

Bucknell (Jarret Witzal, Colin O’Brien, Drew Wellington) 8

Navy held Bucknell scoreless until midway through second quarter when a Bison man-up goal halted Navy’s six goal run.  Navy would maintain a lead of at least five goals thereafter.  The game was the Patriot League opener for both teams.

Jarett was 14 of 24 on faceoffs with a game high 11 ground balls.  Drewagain saw playing time for Bucknell andThomas Evans started on defense for the Midshipmen.

Other Games

#17 Army (Drennan Greene) 12

Lafayette 5

Army picked up the win in their Patriot League season opener and Drennan saw his first D-I action and scored his first D-! goal nine seconds into his time on the field.Drennan’s goal was the sixth Army goal in a string of seven consecutive second half goals for the Black Knights.  That run of seven blew open what had been a close game.

Cleveland State (Justin Conner) 12

Mercer 8

Cleveland State’s 5-0 advantage in the second quarter produced a lead the Vikings would not surrender.  In the second half, Mercer pulled within two but Cleveland State restored order with a run of three goals in three minutes.

#19 Colgate (Griffin Brown) 8

Lehigh 10

Colgate’s offense did not get rolling until the third quarter.  The Raiders were down 6-2 at the half then managed to even things up going into the final period with a 4-0 advantage over the first ten minutes of the third quarter.  After managing to push that rock to the top of the hill, Colgate had to watch it roll back down as Lehigh scored three straight in reply.

Griffintook four shots and had one ground ball for Colgate

#3 Cornell (Colton Rupp) 17

Albany 16

Three straight Cornell goals to close out the third period and a fourth to open the final frame provided Big Red with a five-goal lead.  Not to be outdone, The Danes answered back with five straight, include two in the last two minutes, to force a tie with just over a minute left in regulation. Cornell got the game winner with just 13 seconds left in the game and then were able to create enough havoc after the final faceoff to prevent Albany from getting a shot off.

Dartmouth (Landon McKenzie) 11

Wagner 4

Big Green got win #1 for 2019.  Dartmouth scored the game’s first five goals then coasted to the win.

#6 Duke (Jack Falk) 11

Richmond 7

Duke dominated most statistical categories, but were not able to pull away from the host Spiders until the fourth quarter when the Blue Devils had a 3-0 scoring advantage.  Jack saw playing time for Duke.

Fairfield (Alex Hagerup) 4

Rutgers 8

Both goalies had excellent games, but the Rutgers goals stopped a few more and that was sufficient for the Scarlet Knights to secure the win.

Furman (Michael Abizaid) 7

Utah 8

Utah jumped out to a 6-0 lead midway through the second period and Furman was forced to battle back.  The Paladins scored four straight goals in the final period to pull with in one.  After the last faceoff, the game was characterized by turnovers and shot clock violations, but no more scoring.

Michael won four of seven faceoffs, took one shot, collected three ground balls and caused one turnover against the Utes, a team on which he was rostered.

Hobart (Koko Avedisian) 16

Binghamton 7

The Statesmen put up seven straight goals in the middle of the second half to put a comfortable cushion between them and the Bearcats. Koko had two assists and took four shots.

Jacksonville (Hunter Sells, Andrew Mitchell) 19

Drexel 12

After suffering several close losses this season, the Dolphins broke out with a decisive win.  Hunter’sstrong play in goal was an important factor as the two goalies saw a similar number of shots.Hunter stopped 10 of Drexel’s 22 shots on goal while Andrew got to two ground balls and caused one turnover.

#18 Johns Hopkins (Joey Epstein) 14

Princeton 12

Down two late in the third period, the Blue Jays put up five straight scores to take the lead.  The Tigers interrupted that run with a score of their own, but Princeton answered back with a pair.  The Tigers scored twice in the final two minutes, but their final score came with just 14 seconds left in regulation.  Hopkins was down a man going into the final faceoff, but won control and ran down the clock.

Joey scored two goals off of his six shots and contributed an assist as well.

#1 Loyola (Cam James) 19

Holy Cross 15

The Greyhounds bounced back from their loss to Towson and picked up the win in the Patriot League season opener.  Although Loyola led throughout the game, they did not pull away until early in the fourth quarter when their run of four straight goals blunted Holy Cross hopes of a come from behind win.

#2 Maryland (Justin Shockey, John Geppert) 13 OT

Notre Dame 14

Maryland looked in control early, but the Irish adjusted and turned the game in their favor.  A pair of Maryland goals tied things up early in the third quarter.  After Notre Dame answered back with a four-goal run to go up 11-7 mid way through the third, the Terrapins put up their own four goal run to make the match even again.  Next, the teams traded pairs of goals, keeping the tie in place.  Maryland scored that last tying goal with just 16 seconds left in regulation.  An Irish shot hit a post with just three seconds left—onto overtime.  Maryland had to go a man down to start overtime due to a holding penalty during that final flurry in regulation.  The Terrapins were able to kill off the penalty but Notre Dame put home the game winner as the shot clock neared expiration

Justin won three of five faceoff and hand one ground ball.

Michigan (Zach Johnson) 16

St. Johns 11

Big Blue’s four goal run which ran from the end of the second quarter into the third provided enough of a cushion for Michigan to pick up its third win of the season.

#5 Penn State (Nate Buller) 15

Penn 14

Penn State had to rally in the game’s closing minutes to get the bounce back win.  After a hot start to 2019, the Nittany Lions fell to defending champ Yale last week.  With three minutes left in regulation, they were staring at a second loss to a Ivy League club, but Penn State responded with a quick pair of goals to get the lead back.  Penn won the final faceoff, but their lone shot ended up in the Penn State goalie’s stick.

Nate took two shots for Penn State.

St. Josephs (Thomas Halm) 6

Delaware 14

Delaware translated substantial advantages in ground balls and shots into a pair of five goal runs which were more than enough to ensure the win.

St. Josephs (Thomas Halm) 8

Monmouth 6

The Hawks bounced back from their disappointing outing versus Delaware to down Monmouth.  The bulk of St. Joseph’s scoring came from a spate of six unanswered goals over a thirteen-minute span that straddled halftime.  Monmouth put three in the cage after that to close out the third quarter.  Following that burst of scoring, neither team scored in the fourth.

#10 Virginia (Ryan Pride) 15 OT

Syracuse 14

The UVA-Syracuse series is about an even a match as can be had.  With UVA’s win this weekend, each team has won 18 times and each team has scored 466 goals across those 36 games.  As befits such parity, this game had to go into overtime to reach a conclusion.  Down the stretch it did not look like that would be the case.  ‘Cuse was up 13-9 with 10 minutes left in regulation.  Virginia turned up the offense and outscored the Orange 5-1 over the balance of regulation.  Syracuse had multiple opportunities to score in the closing minute of regulation, but UVA blocks and a save pushed the game into overtime.

Virginia won the overtime faceoff and seemed stymied by the Orange defense and had just one shot as the shot clock neared expiration. A pushing penalty against Syracuse rewound the clock and extended UVA’s possession.  The ‘Hoos were held shotless during the 30 second man-up opportunity, but, as the shot clock was again nearing zero, Virginia netted the winner.

This Coming Week:

This week’s Bears vs. Bears matches:

Colgate (Griffin Brown) / Hobart (Koko Avedisian)

#6 Duke (Jack Falk) /#1 Loyola (Cam James)

Crown Classic in Charlotte, NC

#3 Cornell (Colton Rupp) /#5 Penn State (Nate Buller)

Jacksonville (Hunter Sells, Andrew Mitchell) / #7 Towson (Mo Sillah)

#3 Cornell (Colton Rupp) / #7 Towson (Mo Sillah)

#5 Penn State (Nate Buller) / Jacksonville (Hunter Sells, Andrew Mitchell)

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

Catholic (Tommy Minkler-Grad Assistant, Sean Feldman) 12

Marymount 10

After the Cardinals incrementally built lead into the third period, Marymount rallied with four consecutive goals to take their first—and as it would turn out—and only lead of the game.  Catholic netted three goals in response and held on for the win.

Catholic (Tommy Minkler-Grad Assistant, Sean Feldman) 4

St. Mary’s 8

Yet another case of two teams that played a fairly even game with goalie play making the difference.  Catholic’s goalie had a decent 50% save rate for the game, but that pales in comparison to St. Mary’s goalie who save 75% of Catholic’s shots on goal.

#2 Salisbury (Brian Menendez, Jace Menendez) 18

Ohio Wesleyan 9

Salisbury scored at a goal a minute pace over the game’s first six minutes then incrementally extended their lead over the next two quarters.

Tufts (Luke Kurtz, Kyle Amitay) 20

Hamilton 11

Tufts opened their 2019 in near mid-season form.  Never shy about shooting, the Jumbos took 67 shots, putting just over half of those on goal.  Not surprisingly, with 31 goals, 39 saves, and 31 turnovers, the game was without any shot clock violations.

Luke started for the Jumbos and had one and had two ground balls.

Tufts (Luke Kurtz, Kyle Amitay) 19

Cortland 15

Tufts picked up back-to-back wins in their first weekend.  Against Cortland, the Jumbos continued the artillery show, taking 60 shots and again putting over half of those on goal.  Luke started at midfield for Tufts.

Washington College (Will Oliver) 18

Frostburg State 9

Ten consecutive Washington goals, from the closing minutes of the first period to the opening minutes of the third period, were the difference in this contest.  Will saw playing time for the Shoremen.

Trinity’s (Spud Dunn) season opener was delayed due to weather.

USILA Coaches’ Poll:

#2 Salisbury (6 first place votes)

#4 Tufts

Received votes: Washington College

Inside Lacrosse Media Poll:

#2 Salisbury (5 first place votes)

#4 Tufts