BearsLaxTraxFax 04.02.2024

goldenstateservicesj
Apr 2, 2024
9 min read

BLTF 040124

JOHN NICHOLS P’09

D-I

THIS WEEK’S GAMES

DARTMOUTH (Will Cohen, Cameron Brown, Zak Oehlerking) 5

#13 Princeton 15

Princeton owned the middle of the game, scoring eleven times from the middle of the second quarter until middle of the fourth. After that, Big Green closed out the day with three straight goals.

Cam took two shots in the game, one of which was on goal. So far this season, Cam has ten goals, fourth best for the team. Both Will and Zak played in the game with Will earning one ground ball.

#9 DENVER (Ryan Giles) 9

Villanova 6

Denver and Villanova played to a draw in the first, second and fourth quarters with the Pioneers 3-0 edge in the third quarter dictating the outcome. Shooting volume was similar for the two teams, but Denver had an advantage in accuracy on the attack end and an advantage in goal play on the defensive side.

Ryan had one ground ball for the Pioneers.

#16 HARVARD (Joey Graham) 10

#2 Virginia 13

Harvard dominated Virginia over the first three quarters of the game. During that time, Harvard had three-to-two advantages in shots and ground balls and a two-to-one advantage in shots on goal. However, Harvard failed to translate that level of dominance into an equally impressive lead on the scoreboard due in large part to Virginia’s goalie having made twelve saves across the first three quarters. The Crimson led 9-6 going into the fourth quarter, but the fourth quarter was a completely different game. Harvard scored first, then it was all UVA after that. The ‘Hoos scored the last seven goals of the game with the fifth goal of that run, the game winning goal, scored by Virginia’s goalie on a one-man clear.

Hobart (Jackson Galiani) 12

UMass 13

Hobart appear to have their conference opener well in hand after scoring seven unanswered goals from midway through the second quarter through the end of the third quarter. UMass turned tables on them in the final quarter, with three three-goal runs, each of which was punctuated by single scores for Hobart. In that final period, Hobart’s goalie’s save percentage dropped from 75% across the first three quarters to just 10% in the fourth.

#15 MICHIGAN (Hunter Taylor, Graham Hertzberg) 11

#11 Johns Hopkins 15

Michigan built an early lead with three straight first quarter goals. The Blue Jays answered with the same to tie the game at four all. Big Blue stopped that mini-run with two goals to retake the lead. Johns Hopkins then scored four times in less than a minute and a half to have their own two-goal lead. Michigan pulled to within one with the final score of the half. The second half had a steady rhythm favoring the Blue Jays with three iterations of Hopkins scoring twice and Michigan one, effectively extending the Hopkins lead to four goals late in the fourth quarter. The teams closed out the game with one goal each.

Hunter saved twelve of the twenty-seven shots that Hopkins put on goal.

NAVY (JT Thomas III, Preston Lugar) 10

#17 Colgate 9

Navy was down 4-0 midway through the second quarter but managed three straight scores to close out the first half and trailed by just one. Colgate scored quickly to start the second half then the Middies took their first lead with another run of three. Colgate tied the game again, but Navy scored twice, the first late in the third quarter and the second in the middle of the fourth quarter to take a two-goal lead. For the rest of the game, the teams swapped single scores and Navy successfully clung to their narrow lead.

OHIO STATE (Cullen Brown) 14

#19 Rutgers 8

After a fairly tepid first half in which only the Buckeyes managed to score consecutive goals Ohio State led 5-3. In the second half, both offense took flight, equaling their scoring output of the first half in just nine minutes. The distribution of scores did not change and Ohio State led 10-6. Down the stretch, Ohio State added to their lead scoring twice for each goal earned by Rutgers.

Cullen had four ground balls and caused two Rutgers turnovers.

#14 PENN (Stephen Bou)11 2OT

#7 Cornell 10

The Quakers are almost half way through their Ivy League schedule and are the only team that is undefeated in league play at 3-0. Cornell controlled the game early, jumping out to a 6-2 lead in the middle of the first quarter. Penn whittled away at their deficit scoring the last two goals of the fist quarter and first of the second quarter to pull within one. Big Red got the last goal of the first half and led by two at the break. Penn wiped out that lead with two early goals in the third quarter, but Cornell stifled that rally and retook the lead with a single goal. The teams then swapped single goals with Cornell retaining its one-goal lead. The Quakers scored twice to get their first lead and maintained that lead for six minutes until Cornell tied the game up with four minutes left in the fourth quarter. Each team challenged the goal with shots across the balance of the fourth quarter, but neither could find the back of the net.

The first overtime period was a draw with each team having their scoring chances rebuffed by the opposing goalie. Cornell won the second overtime faceoff but turned the ball over without having taken a shot. Penn successfully cleared the ball and, after a time out, netted the winning goal.

#10 YALE (Jake Cohen) 21

Le Moyne 10

Yale had an eight-goal run in the first half and another one in the second half to coast to the win. In this clearly one-sided affair, Le Moynes total shots just equaled Yale’s shots on goal.

Jake played in the game.

#10 YALE (Jake Cohen) 16

Brown 10

Yale and Brown matched each other goal for goal into the second quarter, then the Bulldogs ran off six unanswered goals—the last four of the first half and the first two of the second half. Brown stopped the run with a pair of goals, but Yale restored their six-goal lead with their own set of two. Yale extended their lead to eight goals in the final quarter and Brown trimmed it back by two to close out the game.

Jake was in the starting LINEUP for Yale.

USILA TOP TWENTY (4/1)

1. Notre Dame

2. Virginia

3. Duke Syracuse

4. Syracuse

5. Army

6. Georgetown

7. Penn State

8. Denver

9. Maryland

10. Johns Hopkins

11. Yale

12. Cornell

13. Penn

14. Princeton

15. Harvard

16. Michigan

17. Boston U.

18. Richmond

19. Saint Joseph’s

20. Towson

+++++++++++++++++

D-III

BEARS vs BEARS

#12 WASHINGTON & LEE (Will Bou, Will Abramson) 11

HAMPDEN-SYDNEY (Owen Hegadorn) 10

Last year’s meeting between these ODAC foes was a four-overtime grinder in which Washington & Lee had to overcome a four-goal deficit in the fourth quarter. After three stalemated extra periods, Hampden-Sydney came up with the with the game winner.

In this year’s match, W&L got the win by withstanding a fourth quarter comeback by the Tigers. The Generals jumped out to an early four-goal lead but the Tigers matched that, and, with a pair of late second quarter goals, had one goal lead at the halftime break. Washington and Lee controlled the game in the third quarter, outscoring Hampden-Sydney 5-0 to lead 10-6 going into the fourth quarter. Hampden-Sydney’s first two goals of the fourth quarter halved the General’s lead, but W&L got a goal to go back up by three. The Tigers netted two more in the closing minutes of the game then the Generals won the final faceoff and succeeded in running out the clock.

Will Bou won eight of thirteen faceoffs and collected four ground balls.

THIS WEEK’S GAMES

#10 AMHERST (Nicholas Kopp, Oscar Smink) 13

#16 Lynchburg 15

After Amherst scored the game’s first two goals, Lynchburg reeled off six straight scores to take a lead that would defend through the rest of the game. The Mammoths pulled within two with the last goal of the first half and first one of the second half, but a pair of Hornet goals took their lead back to four. Amherst scored once in reply, then Lynchburg extended their lead to seven with four straight scores. The Mammoths stopped that run with a single goal and then the teams traded goals to wrap up the third period. Amherst dominated in the final quarter, including a four-goal run to end the contest.

Nicholas won ten of twenty-three faceoffs, scooped up four ground balls, caused a Lynchburg turnover and fired off one shot.

#9 BOWDOIN (Nico Schermer) 6

#17 Babson 13

Bowdoin scored first but Babson did not allow another goal to the Polar Bears until the closing seconds of the third quarter. During Bowdoin’s scoring drought, Babson put together ten straight scores. Babson got the last goal of the third quarter and the first of the fourth quarter before Bowdoin had one last spirited run of four straight scores.

#9 BOWDOIN (Nico Schermer) 15

Hamilton 8

Sharper goalie proved to be the winning factor in this game. Bowdoin and Hamilton took about the same number of shots (47 vs. 49) and were similarly accurate in their shooting (25 vs. 24 shots on goal) so it was up to the goalies to make a difference. The Bowdoin net minder recorded an outstanding 67% save rate, while Hamilton’s goalies was down at just 40%.

COLBY (Colin Flood) 30

Maine Maritime 5

The dam broke open for the Mules in the second quarter with the game being decided by Colby’s successive runs of eleven and then ten goals. Those two scoring runs consumed a combined thirty-six minutes of game time and were interrupted by just one goal for Maine Maritime.

Colin played in this game.

COLBY (Colin Flood) 13

#3 Tufts 17

As is often the case when playing Tufts, their sheer volume of shots can be overwhelming. Considering that Tufts took seventy shots in the game (twice as many as Colby) with half of those on-goal, its amazing the game was as close as it was. Colby’s goalie saved as many as he gave up, outperforming the Jumbo’s goalie with respect to both the number of saves and save percentage.

DENISON (Anthony Savoy) 9

York 10

York started the scoring with three straight goals then Denison bettered that with four in a row. The teams swapped goals for the rest of the first half and Denison led by one at the break. Initially, the second half reprised the first with a pair of goals and Denison matching them. York then flipped the scoreboard with a run of three straight scores to lead by two early in the fourth quarter. The greater part of the fourth quarter was filled with the ball moving up and down the field but never finding the back of the goal until Denison scored to cut York’s margin to one with less than three minutes left in the game. Denison put two shots on goal in the final flurry of activity, but could not get the tie to extend the match.

#7 DICKINSON (Will Single, Andrew Atkins) 8

Franklin & Marshall 4

Dickinson had clear advantages in evert statistical category and need it in another game in which both goalies were outstanding. The Red Devils benefited from a pair of four-goal runs, one in each half, and allowed successive scores to F&M just once.

Will had one ground ball for Dickinson.

#7 DICKINSON (Will Single, Andrew Atkins) 13 OT

Saint Mary’s 12

Saint Mary’s grabbed an early three-goal lead with four straight first quarter goals. Substantial leads were not to be had this day though, and Dickinson had the game tied up at half time. In the third quarter, each team scored four goals. The fourth quarter was another draw—neither team managed to find the back of the cage so on to overtime. Saint Mary’s won the overtime faceoff but could get a shot off before Dickinson took the ball away. The Red Devils scored on their first shot of the overtime period.

Will scooped up four ground balls in the game.

HAMPDEN-SYDNEY (Owen Hegadorn) 20

Averett 1

The Tigers scored the first twelve goals of the game and the last eight with just one for Averett squeezed in between. Despite giving up twenty, Averett’s two goalies had a better than 50% save rate for the game.

Owen played in the game and was the most productive goalie, stopping all three of the shots that Averett put on goalie during his tenure. He also gathered up one ground ball and caused an Averett turnonver.

OHIO WESLEYAN (Quinn Coughlan) 18

Oberlin 9

The Bishops had multiple runs of three or four goals plus one set of six and row while never allowing more than two at a time to Oberlin.

#12 WASHINGTON & LEE (Will Bou, Will Abramson) 9

Randolph-Macon 6

The Generals started off slow and in the hole. Randolph-Macon scored the game’s first two goals, and the W&L got their first right after that. W&L picked up the pace in the second quarter, scoring five times in less than five minutes in the second quarter. Randolph-Macon trimmed W&L’s lead with a pair of goals, but Washington and Lee finished off the first half with three straight scores. As with the start of the game. Randolph-Macon scored twice to start the second half before the Generals got their first goal of the half. From there on neither team developed any sustained scoring momentum.

Will Bue won two of four faceoffs and picked up one ground ball.

D-III USILA POLL (4/1)

1. Salisbury

2. RPI

3. RIT

4. Tufts

5. Saint Lawrence

6. Dickinson

7.Christopher Newport

8. Union

9. Gettysburg

10. Washington & Lee