BearLaxTraxFax by John Nichols- recent Bear action on lacrosse fields

BEARS LAX TRAX FAX 02122023

Division I

The pot got stirred this week as upsets dominated the news.  Maryland’s unbeaten string was snapped by Loyola and Georgetown succumbed to Johns Hopkins.  The upsets begat a shuffling of the polls and set us up for what could be a wild year in college lacrosse. 

GAME RECAPS

Denver (Ryan Giles) 10

Air Force 12 

 Denver had a clear advantage on faceoffs, but a stark difference in goalie play decided this game.  Air Force’s goalie saved two-thirds of the shots that Denver put on goal, but at the other end of the field, Denver’s goalie stopped just a third of the Falcon’s shots on goal.  

The Falcons scored four unanswered goals in the later half of the second period to go up by three.  Denver trimmed that lead to a single goal on three occasions over the balance of the game but were unable to flip the scoreboard in their favor. 

Ryan had one ground ball for Denver. 

Hobart (Jackson Galiani) 20

Canisius 14 

Hobart got their 2023 campaign off to a roaring start by wrapping runs of five and six goals around a single score for Canisius.  The pace of scoring evened out after that and Canisius finished off the game with four scores in the final four minutes. 

Jackson saw playing time in his first collegiate game. 

Maryland (John Geppert) 7

Loyola 12 

Maryland did almost all the things that made them so successful over the last several seasons, but starkly contrasting play in goal broke so strongly in favor of the Greyhounds that the Terrapins dominance across the rest of the field did not matter.  Maryland had a three to two advantage for shots on goal, but 77 percent of Maryland’s shots on goal died in the Loyola goalie’s cross while the Terrapin tender stopped a mere 29 percent of the ‘hounds shots on goal. 

John took two shots, one on goal, and scooped up four ground balls. 

Michigan (Graham Hertzberg, Hunter Taylor) 13

Virginia 17 

Michigan never led in the game, but stayed on Virginia’s heels throughout the contest.  Michigan appeared to get a great opportunity early in the fourth quarter when the Cav’s goalie was cited for slash to the head and had to sit for a minute.   The Wolverines got off one shot on the substitute netminder but the threat was extinguished with the save and UVA killed off the penalty.  After that, Virginia built a durable lead, scoring three times while holding Michigan scoreless until there were three minutes left in the game. 

Navy (JT Thomas III, Preston Luger) 13

Hofstra 12 

Hofstra had a slight advantage in faceoffs and a huge advantage in ground balls.  That kind of performance is far more likely to a win.  Navy overcame these possession challenges and held Hofstra at bay throughout the contest.  The Midshipmen’s four goal run over the second and third periods seemed to provide Navy with a cushion, but Hofstra’s offense woke up in the second half and tied the game up by running five straight scores.  Navy broke that run and rebuilt their lead by scoring four of the game’s next five goals. 

Ohio State (Cullen Brown) 19

Cleveland State 12 

 The first two and a half periods of the game were all Ohio State as the Buckeyes had three extended scoring streaks that were broken up by single score for Cleveland State.  After Ohio State rolled out to a 14-3 lead in the middle of the third quarter, things evened out a bit when Ohio State exercised their depth chart. 

Cullen had four ground balls for Ohio State. 

POLLS

Losses by Maryland, Georgetown, and Duke jumbled up the top rankings in the polls this week.  Big wins for Johns Hopkins and Loyola moved these two teams from the outside into the upper tiers of the polls. 

Inside Lacrosse/Media

1.      Virginia 

2.      Cornell 

3.      Notre Dame 

4.      Princeton 

5.Yale

6t.   Johns Hopkins 

6t.   Ohio State

8.      Rutgers 

9.Maryland

10.Penn

11.  Loyola 

12.  Georgetown 

13.  Delaware 

14.  St. Joseph’s 

15.  Jacksonville 

16.  Duke 

17.Harvard

18.  Syracuse 

19.  North Carolina 

20.  Brown 

USILA COACHES

1.      Virginia 

2.      Notre Dame 

3.      Cornell 

4.Maryland

5.      Princeton 

6.Yale

7.      Rutgers 

8.      Georgetown 

9.      Johns Hopkins 

10.Ohio State

11.Penn

12.  Loyola 

13.  Duke 

14.  Delaware 

15.  Jacksonville 

16.  Syracuse 

17.  Saint Joseph’s 

18.Harvard

19t. Brown   

19t. North Carolina 

Nike/USA Lacrosse

1.      Virginia 

2.      Cornell 

3.      Princeton 

4.      Loyola 

5.      Johns Hopkins 

6.      Notre Dame 

7.Yale

8.      Georgetown 

9.Penn

10.Maryland

11.  Rutgers 

12.Ohio State

13.  Brown 

14.  Delaware 

15.Harvard

16.  Jacksonville 

17.  Duke 

18.  North Carolina 

19.Navy

20.  St. Joseph’s 

THIS COMING WEEK

The Ivy League kicks off its 2023 season this week, adding four teams to our coverage: 

Dartmouth(Brendan Gallagher, Brett Gallagher, Cameron Brown, Zak Oehlerking) opens their season at Merrimack 

Harvard (Joey Graham) plays at Virginia 

Penn (Stephen Bou) takes on Georgetown in DC 

Yale (Jake Cohen) faces Villanova in Philly 

Als 

Denver (Ryan Giles) travels to Duke Friday and the game will be on ESPNU 

              Hobart (Jackson Galiani) visits Lehigh 

Maryland(John Geppert) plays host to Syracuse 

Michigan (Graham Hertzberg, Hunter Taylor) plays Hofstra 

Navy (JT Thomas, Preston Luger) takes on Manhattan 

Ohio State (Cullen Brown) clashes with North Carolina 

Division III play kicks off for us this coming week with four games on the schedule: 

Dickinson (Will Single) faces Stevens 

              Gettysburg (Billy Banfield) opens against DeSales 

Hampden-Sydney (Owen Hegadorn) travels to Southern Virginia 

              Washington & Lee(Will Bou) plays York 

Our NESCAC teams (Amherst-Nicholas Kopp, Colby—Miles Tonkel, and Tufts—Garrett Kurtz) will commence play on March 1. 

We will have six Bears versus Bears games this season in D-III