Final BLTF 2021

BEARS LAX TRAX 053121

D-I

DI NCAA TOURNAMENT, SEMIFINALS

One close game and one blowout set up a Bears vs. Bears game for the tournament title on Memorial Day. The last NCAA Championship game that was also a Bears vs. Bears game was the 2007 championship game between Johns Hopkins (Conor Cassidy, Jake Byrne) and Duke (Chris Tkac, Peter Lamade, Gibbs Fogarty, John Walsh) which Hopkins won 12-11.

VIRGINIA (Ryan Pride) 12

North Carolina 11

If lacrosse was scored like match play golf North Carolina would have won 2-up, but it isn’t so they didn’t. Virginia’s domination in the second quarter set the ‘Hoos on the path to this semifinal win, but they had to withstand a second half surge by the Tar Heels to stay on that path.

The teams traded leads in the first quarter and into the early moments of the second. Virginia’s goal to tie the game at four-all was the start of a run that broke that pattern. UVA closed out the second period with five more goals to take an 9-4 lead into the locker room. In that second quarter explosion Virginia won all nine faceoffs and had a 20-6 advantage on ground balls.

The second half tilted more in North Carolina’s favor, but despite their advantages in shots, ground balls, faceoffs and turnovers in the third quarter, the Heels were only able to cut one goal off of UVA’s lead heading into the final period. The fourth quarter was all North Carolina with Virginia held scoreless while having more turnovers (8) than shots (5) and just one shot on goal. The Heels were the mirror image—committing just three turnovers and while taking twelve shots, seven on-goal. That offensive advantage pulled North Carolina within one with three minutes left in the game. As the clock ticked down to less than a minute remaining, Carolina forced Virginia’s twenty-second turnover of the day to get one last chance to tie the game. The game ended in a ground ball scrum in front of the goal as Carolina was unable to get off a shot before the final horn sounded.

MARYLAND (Justin Shockey, John Geppert, Matt Kopp, Griffin Brown) 14

Duke 5

The Terrapins may have a bit of a chip on their shoulder, having gone undefeated this year but getting the third, not first, seed in the NCAA tournament. Maryland shut down Duke’s offense, never allowing the Blue Devils back-to-back scores while the Terrapins’ offense went on a seven goal run in the middle of the game.

The game started at a fairly deliberate pace with Maryland up 2-1 at the first break. The teams traded goals in the second period until there were three minutes left in the half. Maryland closed out the half with four straight goals in those closing minutes then, after the break, scored three more unanswered goals stretched out over almost entirety of the third period. Duke stopped that run with a goal just before the quarter’s end. Maryland dominated play in the final period, scoring three unanswered goals to stretch their lead to 14-4 before Duke closed out the scoring with just eight seconds left on the clock.

Justin won 11 of his 21 faceoffs and was a dominating force in the first half, winning ten of fourteen draws and scoring a goal (his first of the season!). Justin’s goal came ten seconds after a goal scored by Griffin Brown. Griffin also had a ground ball and a caused turnover. John Geppert continued his strong play as a longstick middie.

DI NCAA TOURNAMENT, CHAMPIONSHIP

VIRGINIA (Ryan Pride) 17

MARYLAND (Justin Shockey, John Geppert, Matt Kopp, Griffin Brown) 16

Virginia repeated as the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Champion, dashing Maryland’s hopes of winning the title with a perfect record. The game was a thrilling, edge of the seat contest with the teams trading runs of goals throughout.

Maryland scored first and had the early advantage going up 4-2 with three minutes left in the first period. Virginia closed out the first by scoring a pair of goals to tie then ran off four more to take an 8-4 lead in the middle of the second period. Maryland quickly answered with their own run—three in a row in three minutes, the first assisted by John Geppert and the last scored by Griffin Brown. UVA got a late goal to take a two goal lead into the locker room.

Maryland opened the second half scoring and pulled within one of the ‘Hoos only to see Virginia quickly respond with a pair of scores to run its lead back out to three. Again, the tide quickly shifted in favor of Maryland with a burst of three goals in two and a half minutes to tie the game up at eleven all—the first tie since early in the second period. Now it was Virginia’s turn to light up the board by stringing five straight scores together, the last coming with eleven minutes left in regulation. Maryland rallied back to pull within one again, scoring four goals in two and a half minutes. Virginia stopped that run with a single score, taking a 17-15 lead into the final three minutes of regulation.

Virginia won the next faceoff but a save by the Maryland goalie created a new possession for the Terrapins. Maryland released a fusillade of shots on the Virginia goal which were blocked, saved, or off the mark until there were just eleven seconds left when the Terrapins cashed in to pull within one, 17-16. Maryland won the ensuing faceoff and their fogo raced down the field, putting a point blank shot into the chest of the Virginia goalie. The ‘Hoos found the ground ball in the scrum around the crease and heaved it to the opposite end of the field as time expired.

Griffin scored once for Maryland, putting two of his three shots on goal. Justin won a pair of a faceoffs and collected up one ground ball. John Geppert’s continued great play did not escape the stat sheet for this game. He contributed an assist on the first goal of Maryland’s second quarter run and for the full game took one shot, forced four turnovers, and picked up three ground balls.

D-III

DIII NCAA TOURNAMENT, CHAMPIONSHIP

SALISBURY (Jace Menendez) 14 2OT

RIT 15

Salisbury had this game locked away, then one dumb move changed everything. The Gulls led 14-13 and had the ball with time ticking down towards the final whistle. While the Gull offense played keep away and the RIT defenders chased, the Salisbury defense and RIT offense were lined up at the mid-field stripe, watching and waiting. Not so subtly, a Salisbury defender tripped an RIT attack causing him to fall, landing just over the line. This time the referees saw the first actor and called interference on Salisbury, turning the ball over to RIT. The Tigers moved the ball quickly down the field on the restart and tied the game just ahead of the horn sounding for the end of the fourth period. Both teams had chances in first overtime, but neither could score. Salisbury won the faceoff for the second overtime period but quickly turned the ball over. RIT won the game on their first shot of the second overtime, claiming their first NCAA D-III Championship.