John Nichols’ BLTF for 04.16.2022

BLTF 041622

D-I

BEARS vs BEARS

PENN (Stephen Bou) 11

HARVARD (Joey Graham) 8

After a low scoring first half, Penn got the game rolling in the second half, scoring five times in the third quarter while blanking Harvard.  That big run was enough to ensure the win as the teams matched each other goal for goal in the final period.  Penn’s offense was powered by an 18-4 advantage on faceoffs and while Penn shot more often, Harvard shot more accurately, an advantage that was negated by Penn’s goalie making twenty saves on the day.

JOHNS HOPKINS (Joey Epstein) 13

PENN STATE (Nate Buller) 10

But for a minute in the first period, the Jays led throughout the contest.  Four straight scores by Hopkins in the second period were the foundation of their five-goal lead at the half.  Penn State made incremental progress in the second half, but time ran out before they could mount a threat.

Joey scored a pair of goals on eight shots (four on goal) plus two ground balls and had a caused turnover.

OTHER GAMES

BUCKNELL (Drew Wellington) 23

Holy Cross 7

The Bison scored the first six goals of the game and then bettered that run by scoring nine in a row in the second half. 

Drew had two ground balls and a caused turnover.

DARTMOUTH (Brendan Gallagher, Brett Gallagher) 10

Princeton 12

Dartmouth, winless in Ivy League play, looked to have their hands full against the #3 ranked Tigers. However, it was clear in the first half neither team could break away from the other with the score tied five times and each team having held and lost leads.  In the third quarter, Princeton appeared to be in the driver’s seat with a run of four unanswered goals.  Dartmouth responded in kind, plus, running off five consecutive scores and retaking the lead early in the final quarter.  Princeton bounced back with three quick goals to go up by two with ten minutes left in the game.  The ball raced up and down the field over those final ten minutes with all good scoring opportunities snuffed by the goalies.

DENVER (Ryan Giles) 18

Saint John’s 4

Denver ran away from the Red Storm scoring the first five goals of the game then, after St. John’s first goal, scoring the next seven.  Saint John’s stopped that run with their only back-to-back goals just to see the Pioneers reply in kind.  After the Red Storm got their final goal of the game, Denver closed out the rout with a run of four.

Ryan played in the game.

LOYOLA (Cam James) 9

Boston U. 14

The teams traded three-goal runs in the first half and were tied at five at the halftime break.  In the second half only the Terriers benefited from scoring streaks.  Loyola got their last lead of the game five minutes into the third quarter then BU ran off five in a row to go up by four.  The Greyhounds stopped that run with a single score but the Terriers racked up three more to extend their lead to six.  The brisk scoring pace of the third quarter and early fourth quarter then slowed considerably, Loyola scoring twice and Boston U just once over the game’s final thirteen minutes.

Cam played in the game.

MARYLAND (John Geppert, Matt Kopp) 19

Ohio State 12

This game looked like it would be another runaway win for the #1 Terrapins when they scored twice the in the first minute of the game.  Ohio state came back with two of their own and that set the tone for the game.  Maryland scored once to take the lead back, then Ohio State made a statement with a run of five straight scores to go up by four.  Maryland scored the last four goals of the first half to tie the game up at seven all headed into halftime.  Maryland opened the second half scoring to go up by one, but the Buckeyes took the lead back with a pair of goals.  The teams traded single scores until Maryland ran off three in row to go up by two late in quarter.  The Buckeyes closed out the scoring in the third quarter, cutting the Terrapins’ advantage to just one. Maryland  opened the fourth quarter with five successive goals and Ohio State did not have an answer for that.

Both Matt and John played in the game and John had one ground ball.

MICHIGAN (Zach Johnson, Graham Hertzberg)

Rutgers 13

Rutgers appeared to be in charge early, scoring six straight goals in the middle of the first half.  Each team scored twice over the balance of the first half and Rutgers led by five at the break.  After Rutgers opened the scoring for the second half, Michigan scored three in a row to halve the Scarlet Knights’ lead.  Two more for Rutgers before the end of the third quarter meant that they were still up by five heading into the final period.  Big Blue then got the big push they needed—five goals in less than five minutes—to tie the game up.  Rutgers stopped that run and reclaimed the lead only to have Michigan tie the game up two minutes later.  Rutgers scored again to take the lead and that lead held up over the final three minutes of the game.

Zach played in the game.

NAVY (JT Thomas) 9

Lafayette 5

After a scoreless first quarter, Navy kicked the game into a higher gear scoring four goals in the first three minutes of the second quarter.  Lafayette slowly worked their way back scoring three times, the last coming in the middle of the third period.  Navy put together another set of four, this one much slower than the first, consuming fourteen minutes of game time.  Lafayette scored twice more in the waning moments of the game then Navy closed out the scoring with a minute left.

TOWSON (Mo Sillah) 10

Delaware 11

The Blue Hens finished the first half with a run of four straight scores then got the first goal of the second half to go up by four.  The teams matched each other score for score, run for run until the last two minutes of the game.  Towson then mounted a comeback attempt, reeling off three goals in just over a minute of playing time.  Delaware won the faceoff then benefited from a personal foul on Towson and time expired without the Tigers getting a shot at tying the game up.

Mo played in the game.

YALE (Jake Cohen) 13

Brown 20

Yale got their first lead of the game with a three-goal run in the first period, but Brown took the lead back by scoring four in a row.  Yale bounced back with another run of three to tie the game up again only to see Brown net to go ahead again.  One goal just before the half cut the Bulldogs’ deficit to one at the break.  Brown opened up the second half with a four-goal run, but this time Yale could not punch back.  Another run of four by Brown effectively closed out the match.

Jake had one ground ball and one caused turnover for Yale.

D-I USILA POLL

1. Maryland

2. Georgetown

3. Princeton

4. Rutgers

5. Virginia

6. Army

7. Jacksonville

8. Cornell

9. Notre Dame

10. Yale

11. Duke

12. Penn

13. Ohio State

14. Brown

15. North Carolina

16. Boston U.

17. Harvard

18. Richmond

19. Denver

20. Saint Joseph’s

THIS COMING WEEK

Dartmouth (Brendan Gallagher, Brett Gallagher) plays Penn (Stephen Bou) and Maryland (John Geppert, Matt Kopp) faces Johns Hopkins (Joey Epstein) in this coming week’s Bears versus Bears games.

Still Too Early NCAA Tournament Field

Big Ten: Maryland, Rutgers, Ohio State

Big East: Georgetown

ACC: Virginia, Notre Dame, Duke

Ivy: Cornell, Princeton, Yale

Patriot: Boston U, Army

Colonial: Fairfield

SoCon Jacksonville

Northeast: Saint Joseph’s

Atlantic Sun: Utah

MAC: Saint Bonaventure

America East: Vermont

Waiting in the wings: Penn, Lehigh, North Carolina, Richmond

D-III

AMHERST (Nicholas Kopp) 15

Connecticut College 13

Amherst got the first three goals of the game, but the Camels responded with two runs of three, each punctuated by single scores for the Mammoths.  After surrendering the first score of the second half, Amherst ran off six straight scores to go up by four.  The Mammoths held the Camels at a bay over the balance of regulation until Connecticut College launched a late surge, scoring three times in the last three minutes of regulation.

Another solid effort on faceoffs by Nicholas with 19 wins in 32 with eight ground balls.

AMHERST (Nicholas Kopp) 14

Williams 10

Williams and Amherst played an even first quarter with each team enjoying three-goal runs.  Amherst surrendered the first goal of the second quarter but then came back to close out the first half with five straight scores.  Neither team could do better than single instances of back-to-back goals in the second half, so the Mammoths’ advantage held up to the end.

Nicholas had a strong showing on faceoffs, winning 14 of 20 and getting to five ground balls.

COLBY (Miles Tonkel) 9

Bowdoin 20

The Mules hung in there against the undefeated Bowdoin Polar Bears in the first quarter, but Bowdoin dominate the middle quarters of the game 12-3 to solidify their position at the top of the NESCAC.

Miles had two ground balls for Colby

COLBY (Miles Tonkel) 10

Middlebury 18

The Mules could not score back-to-back goals until the middle of the fourth quarter and by then Middlebury had enjoyed runs of six, four, and three goals.

Miles had one ground ball for Colby

COLORADO COLLEGE (Max Becker) 15

Whittier 12

Colorado College built their lead incrementally through the first three quarters then launched a five-goal run in the later half of the third to take an eight-goal lead.  That big run proved vital as the Poets rallied down the stretch, scoring six of the game’s seven final goals.

GETTYSBURG (Billy Banfield) 20

McDaniel 7

The Bullets’ offense dominated early with runs of four and five goals in the first half while the defense did not allow any successive scoring opportunities to McDaniel.  Gettysburg allowed only twenty-two shots by the Green Terror, but to McDaniel’s credit nineteen of those were on goal.

GETTYSBURG (Billy Banfield) 8

York 9

The Bullets closed out the first half with a three-goal run, putting them up 6-3 at the halftime intermission.  Apparently, whatever the York coaches said at halftime worked because the Spartans pitched a 4-0 shutout in the third quarter and grabbed a one-goal lead.  Gettysburg got the lead back with a pair of goals only to see York finish off the game with the same.

SALISBURY (Jace Menendez) 19

Saint Mary’s 14

All about the goalies: St. Mary’s goalie made sixteen saves to keep them in game.  Salisbury’s goalies made just three saves to keep St. Mary’s in the game, too.  Salisbury had short scoring runs in each of the first three quarters while Saint Mary’s lone run of three did not come until the end of the game.

SALISBURY (Jace Menendez) 7

Christopher Newport 17

Salisbury’s goalies played much better in the meeting of the top two teams in D-III men’s lacrosse, however the Captains’ possession and shooting advantages negated the benefit of that improvement.  Salisbury’s potent offense which is famous for going on extended scoring runs scored successive goals just once in the game while Christopher Newport had a four-goal run in the first quarter and closed out the game with five straight scores.

TUFTS (Garrett Kurtz) 32

Bates 13

The Jumbos scored early and often, racking up double digit goals in both the first and second quarters.  Tufts was a bit lighter on the gas in the third quarter, outscoring Bates 8-1 and Bates had the advantage in the final period.  The officials in this game were busy with more than just goals and faceoffs as the teams combined for twenty penalties (six slashes), for sixteen and a half minutes of sin bin time.

Garrett had an assist for Tufts.

TUFTS (Garrett Kurtz) 17

Wesleyan 14

Wesleyan took an early lead and Tufts kept close on their heels, but the Cardinals scored four straight goals to close out the first half.  That run to close out the half was the last time Wesleyan would string goals together.  The Jumbos had the advantage to start the second half and had tied the game up at eleven all midway through the third period. With Wesleyan limited to one goal at a time, Tufts was able to build a winning advantage with sets of two or three scores.

Garrett had one ground ball for the Jumbos.

WASHINGTON & LEE (Will Bou) 31

Ferrum 2

The Generals scored sixteen goals in sixteen minutes in the first half to run away with the game.  Ferrum opened the scoring in the second half, then W&L ran off another fourteen in a row to finish the game.

Will won seven of nine faceoffs, collected three ground balls and got off one shot.

D-III USILA POLL

1. Christopher Newport

2. RIT

3. Salisbury

4. Union

5. Saint John Fisher

6. York

7. Bowdoin

8. Dickinson

9. Tufts

10. Saint Lawrence

11. Lynchburg

12. Cabrini

13. Wesleyan

14. Rensselaer

15. Stevenson

16. Franklin & Marshall

17. Gettysburg

18. MIT

19. Amherst

20. Washington & Lee