BearLaxTraxFax by John Nichols P’10

BLTF 043022

D-I

BEARS vs BEARS

NAVY (JT Thomas) 13

BUCKNELL (Drew Wellington) 6

Navy opened the game with the first three goals of the day before the Bison got a pair of scores to cut that lead to one.  Two more for the Midshipmen closed out the first half, but Bucknell ran off three in a row to start the second half and tied the game at five all.  Navy broke that tie and broke the game open with a run of seven consecutive scores to take a 12-5 lead with just over a minute left in the game.  Each team scored once more before the contest ended.

Both Navy and Bucknell qualified for the Patriot League tournament.  Navy will tangle with Lehigh and Bucknell with have a Bears versus Bears game with Loyola.

YALE (Jake Cohen) 17 OT

HARVARD (Joey Graham) 16

Yale opened the game with three consecutive scores but Harvard had the lead at the end of the first quarter, closing the period out with four straight scores.  The Crimson’s lead did not hold up for long as Yale ran off four in a row to start the second period.  After Harvard stopped that run, each team scored twice before the half ended with Yale leading by two.  In the second half the teams matched each other goal for goal until Harvard scored back-to-back goals to tie the game up at eleven all late in the third period.  After Yale stopped that advance, the Eli ran off three in a row to take their first lead since the first quarter.  Yale stayed on Harvard’s heels late into the fourth quarter until they tied the game with two minutes left in regulation.  

Yale won the faceoff to start overtime but quickly turned the ball over.  Harvard got off two shots, but the second was saved and possession went back to Yale.  After Yale cleared the ball, Harvard was whistled for a holding penalty. Yale took advantage of the situation and scored the winning goal just as the penalty expired.

Joey played on Harvard’s defensive midfield squad.

Win or lose, Yale was set for the Ivy League tournament, but Harvard will miss out on the Ivy League tournament and will be hoping for an at-large slot in the NCAA tournament.

OTHER GAMES

DARTMOUTH (Brendan Gallagher, Brett Gallagher) 6

Brown 15

Dartmouth stayed close to the Bears until Brown ran off eight straight goals to close out the first half and start the second.  That run put Brown up by nine, a lead that would hold up as the teams traded goals over the balance of regulation.

The loss ends Dartmouth’s season.

DENVER (Ryan Giles) 16

Marquette 8

The Pioneers ran off seven straight goals after Marquette got the game’s first score. Marquette stopped that run with a single score, but Denver ran off three more before Marquette finished the scoring for the first half.  Denver got the only two scores of the third period then the pace picked up in the fourth quarter.  Marquette scored five the games next six goals, but Denver closed out the game with the final three scores of the game.

Ryan scored a goal for Denver.

Denver is the #2 seed for the Big East tournament and will play Villanova

LOYOLA (Cam James) 13  OT

Lehigh 12

Loyola took control of the game early with a slow paced five goal run that last until the middle of the second quarter.  Lehigh bounced back with a quick run, scoring four goals in three minutes late in the second quarter.  Lehigh had the early advantage in the second half and took and got their first lead of the game with four minutes left in the third period.  The Greyhounds rallied to get the lead back by scoring four goals in a row to go up by three with a bit over ten minutes left in the contest.  Lehigh came back with their own run of four and were once again up by one.  Lehigh attempted to run the clock down but Loyola forced a turnover and then got a double dose of good fortune.  First, Loyola tied the game up with 39 seconds left, and second a Lehigh defender was assessed two illegal body check penalties for a total of three minutes—and those penalties were locked in.  Loyola won the final faceoff of overtime and sat on the ball to ensure possession to start overtime.  Loyola won the game on their first shot in the overtime period.

Cam played in the game.

Loyola earned the #3 seed in the Patriot League tournament and will face Bucknell in a Bears versus Bears match.

PENN (Stephen Bou) 13 OT

St. Joseph’s 12

Penn had their hands full with crosstown rival St. Joseph’s.  The Hawks put together small batches of goals and did not allow successive goals to Penn until just before halftime.  St. Joe’s started the second half with three straight scores to run their lead out to five goals. That lead held until early in the fourth quarter when the Quakers started their comeback.  Penn got three in a row to knock the Hawk’s lead down to two, but St. Joe’s scored to go back up by three.  Two more from Penn brought them with one, but again St. Joe’s scored again to go up by just two.  Penn got the last two goals of regulation and forced overtime. Penn won the draw to start the extra period, turned the ball over but then benefited from a St. Joe’s turnover.  That next possession became the final one of the game when the Quakers found the back of the goal on their second shot in overtime.

PENN (Stephen Bou) 19

Albany 11

Penn got the first three goals of the game and was able to keep the Great Danes at bay.  Albany ran off three straight goals in the middle of the second period to pull within one, but the Quakers ran their lead out to six with a string of five straight goals.  After the teams swapped goals, Penn ran off another five in a row to put the game out of reach.

Penn plays next against Brown in the Ivy League tournament.

TOWSON (Mo Sillah) 14

Hofstra 15

Over the first three quarters of the game, Hofstra built up a five-goal lead incrementally by scoring in sets of two or three while generally limiting Towson to one at a time.  The game turned on its head in the final period as the Tigers ran off five straight scores to tie the game at twelve all in the middle of the fourth quarter. Towson tied the game up at fourteen all with 41 seconds left on the clock. Overtime seemed likely, but Hofstra won the faceoff after Towson tied the game and then won the game with six ticks left on the clock.

Mo played in the game.

Towson in the #2 seed in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament and will face the University of Massachusetts in the semifinals.

YALE (Jake Cohen) 20

Quinnipiac 13

Yale buried Quinnipiac with an early onslaught of goals.  Up 2-1 in middle of the first period, the Bulldogs tallied six goals in just four minutes.  The Elis tallied another five straight in the middle of the second period and, after Quinnipiac closed out the half with a three-goal run, Yale led by nine at the half.  The game was a bit more balanced in the second half, Quinnipiac having a slight advantage in the third quarter and Yale having the edge in the fourth.

Jake played in this game.

Conference Tournaments

JOHNS HOPKINS (Joey Epstein) 16

PENN STATE (Nate Buller) 8

Johns Hopkins’ seven goal run in the first half proved to be sufficient for the Jays to advance to the Big Ten Semis.  After that big run, the teams matched each other scoring, whether single goals or pairs of goals, over the balance of the game.

Joey led all scorers with three goals on six shots.

Johns Hopkins advances to play Maryland in the Big Ten semifinals.  The Jays will need to win that game and the championship game in order to make the NCAA tournament field. Penn State’s season ended with the loss.

MICHIGAN (Zach Johnson, Graham Hertzberg) 10

Ohio State 16

After a slow start, Michigan got the game’s first goal, but Ohio State bounced back and netted five consecutive scores.  Michigan closed out the first half with a run of four straight scores and trailed the Buckeyes by one at halftime.  Ohio State controlled the game in the second half, opening the third period with a run of four and then, after a single score for the Wolverines, three more.  Michigan had one more run at Ohio State, but the Buckeyes limited that run to just three goals.  Two Ohio State goals closed out the scoring for the game.

Michigan’s season ended with the loss.

D-I USILA POLL

1. Maryland

2. Georgetown

3. Rutgers

4. Virginia

5. Yale

6. Notre Dame

7. Brown

8. Cornell

9. Duke

10. Princeton

11. Jacksonville

12. Ohio State

13. Penn

14. Army

15. Harvard

16. Boston U.

17. Richmond

18. Denver

19. Saint Joseph’s

20. North Carolina

THIS COMING WEEK

Conference Tournament Time!

Last Guess at the  NCAA Tournament Field

Big Ten: Maryland, Rutgers, Ohio State

Big East: Georgetown

ACC: Virginia, Notre Dame, Duke

Ivy: Brown, Princeton, Yale, Cornell

Patriot: Boston U

Colonial: Fairfield

SoCon Jacksonville

Northeast: Saint Joseph’s

Atlantic Sun: Utah

MAC: Saint Bonaventure

America East: Vermont

Waiting in the wings: Penn, Harvard, Army

D-III

AMHERST (Nicholas Kopp) 16

Trinity 10

Mammoths versus Bantams.  Amherst started strong and Trinity finished strong, but by the time Trinity got going, Amherst had the game well in hand.  In the first half, the Mammoths had scoring runs of three and four goals, each interrupted by a single Trinity score.  Early in the second half scoring was a bit more even handed with each team answering the other goal for goal.  That pattern broke late in the third quarter when Amherst launched a six-goal run to go up by ten.  The teams again matched single scores before the Bantams closed out the game scoring four goals in the final three minutes.

Nicholas picked up his third goal of the season, won thirteen of twenty-three faceoffs, picked up four ground balls and caused one turnover.

Amherst moved on to the NESCAC tournament as the #3 seed.

COLBY (Miles Tonkel) 22

Bates 8

The Mules wrapped up their 2022 season with a shellacking of the Bobcats.  Colby had already netted seven goals by the time Bates got their first score for the day.  Bates had the better time of it over the balance of the first half, but Colby ran off six straight goals to start the second half.  The teams traded goals after that until Colby closed out the game with a run of five goals.

Miles played in the game.

Colby’s seasons ended with this win.

GETTYSBURG (Billy Banfield) 16

Ursinus 12

Gettysburg jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and extended that lead with a four-goal run in the second quarter.  In the second half, Ursinus put together a couple of three-goal runs but came up short in their attempted comeback.

Gettysburg is the #2 seed in the Centennial Conference and will face Muhlenberg in the semis on Wednesday.

SALISBURY (Jace Menendez) 14

Catholic 8

Catholic took a 3-2 lead midway through the first quarter with back-to-back goals.  That was the last time the Cardinals would have a lead.  The Gulls scored goals in small clutches which were interrupted by single scores for Catholic.  The Gulls biggest run—four goals in the third period—stretched their lead to eight before Catholic closed out the game with the only two goals of the final period.

SALISBURY (Jace Menendez) 23

Mary Washington 5

Salisbury was up 16-0 in the middle of the third period when Mary Washington got their first goal. There teams will meet again in the first round of the Coast to Coast Conference tournament.

Jace played in the game.

TUFTS (Garrett Kurtz) 23

Bowdoin 15

The Jumbos knocked Bowdoin from the ranks of the unbeaten and took the top seed in the NESCAC conference tournament.  Tufts dominated the first half with a five-goal run and a pair of three goal runs while not allowing Bowdoin successive scores until the final minute of the half. The Polar Bears started to rally in the third period and cut Tufts’ lead to four heading into the final period.  The Jumbos retook control of the game in the final period, putting Bowdoin back in the one-score-at-a-time box while extending their lead with three back-to-back scores.

Garrett played in the game.

WASHINGTON & LEE (Will Bou) 19

Shenandoah 4

The Generals absolutely dominated every statistical category in the game with the exception of one—saves.  The Shenandoah goalies combined for twenty-two saves to prevent what would have been an even more epic blowout.

Will won seven of eight faceoffs and picked up four ground balls.

WASHINGTON & LEE (Will Bou) 25

Virginia Wesleyan 5

Washington and Lee had runs of nine and ten goals while Virginia Wesleyan was unable to do better than one at a time.

Will won all seven of his faceoffs.

Washington and Lee is the top seed in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament and will face the winner of the Hampden-Sydney versus Randolph-Macon quarter-final game on Friday.

Conference Tournaments

NESCAC

AMHERST (Nicholas Kopp) 11

Williams 7

After a back and forth first quarter, the Mammoths broke out in the second quarter, closing out the first half with four straight scores, the last right at the horn, to take a 7-4 lead at the break.  Amherst ran that string to five with the first score of the second half then, after a goal by Williams, put together a three-goal run to go up by six midway through the final quarter.  Williams closed out the game with a pair of goals in the final two minutes.

Nicholas won thirteen of nineteen faceoffs, picked up seven ground balls and dished out an assist.

Amherst will face Bowdoin in the NESCAC semifinals.

TUFTS (Garrett Kurtz) 19

Connecticut College 14

The Jumbos edged out ahead of the Camels before closing out the second quarter with a pair of goals and opening the third quarter with three more.  That run put them up by seven in the middle of the third quarter.  Tufts stretched the lead out to nine early in the fourth quarter before Connecticut College ran off five in a row to cut Tufts’ lead to four.  That was too little too late as the Camels’ last goal was scored with forty-eight seconds left in the contest.

Garrett took one shot for the Jumbos.

Tufts faces Wesleyan in the NESCAC semi-finals on Saturday.

D-III USILA POLL

1. Christopher Newport

2. RIT

3. Salisbury

4. Union

5. Saint John Fisher

6. York

7. Dickinson

8. Tufts

9. Bowdoin

10. Saint Lawrence

11. Lynchburg

12. Cabrini

13. Wesleyan

14. MIT

15. Stevenson

16. Rensselaer

17. Amherst

18. Gettysburg

19. Franklin & Marshall

20. Washington & Lee

THIS COMING WEEK

Conference Tournaments Time!