JohnNichol’s Bear Lax Trax Fax for week ending 4/23/22

goldenstateservicesj
Apr 27, 2022
9 min read

BLTF 042322

D-I

BEARS vs BEARS

PENN (Stephen Bou) 16

DARTMOUTH (Brendan Gallagher, Brett Gallagher) 12

Penn had an early lead, up 6-1 early in the second quarter, then Dartmouth slowly gained the advantage and worked their way back into the game. Big Green opened the second half with a run of three straight scores to tie the game at eight all, but the Quakers scored five consecutive goals to finish the third quarter and start the fourth. Dartmouth twice scored back-to-back goals to pull within three, but Penn always had the answer. Dartmouth had a big advantage on faceoffs and shots, but Penn was deadly accurate with their shooting.

MARYLAND (John Geppert, Matt Kopp) 22

JOHNS HOPKINS (Joey Epstein) 7

A historically one-sided game in the long history of this rivalry. The Terrapins scored four goals in the first four minutes of the game and never looked back. After Johns Hopkins got their first goal of the day, Maryland ran off another four in a row. Maryland led a 12-4 at the end of the first half then opened the second with ten consecutive goals in the first twelve minutes of the third quarter. The Terrapins’ offense took its foot off the gas in the fourth period and the Blue Jays got the last three scores of the game.

John had four ground balls and a caused turnover for Maryland and Joey scored one goal on six shots (four on-goal) and collected two ground balls for Johns Hopkins.

OTHER GAMES

BUCKNELL (Drew Wellington) 19

Lafayette 16

The first half was tightly contested with the teams tied four times over the first two quarters before Bucknell closed out the half with a four-goal run to go up by three at the break. Lafayette opened the second half with a run of three and the game was tied up yet again. The Bison took the lead for good with four goals in a three-minute span in the middle of the third quarter. That lead held up as Bucknell fought Lafayette to a draw over the balance of regulation.

Drew took three shots on senior recognition day, collected three ground balls, and caused a turnover.

DENVER (Ryan Giles) 16

Providence 3

The Pioneers’ offense slowly ground out a lead over the first three quarters while their defense thoroughly stifled the Friars’ attack. The pace became a bit more frantic in the final period as Denver scored eight straight goals before Providence got the final tally of the day.

Ryan had one ground ball for the Pioneers.

HARVARD (Joey Graham) 19

Princeton 16

Princeton had the early advantage with runs of three and four goals in the first half to lead by three at the break. Harvard opened the second half with back-to-back goals then traded single scores with the Tigers over the rest of the third quarter. The Crimson wrested the lead from the Tigers in the final period by matching each Princeton goal with a pair of their own. Harvard got the lead for good with five minutes left in the game on a pair of goals which were scored just six seconds apart.

LOYOLA (Cam James) 11 OT

Colgate 10

Colgate scored four goals in less than two minutes to flip a two-goal deficit into a two-goal lead. Loyola returned the favor (at a slower pace) and was back up by two in the middle of the third period. Colgate then ran off three straight, taking a one goal lead into the final period. That lead was out to two with time ticking down when Loyola netted to late goals, the last coming with just 39 seconds left in the regulation. On to overtime. Colgate won the overtime face but was unable to get off a shot before Loyola forced a turnover. After a timeout, Loyola won the game on a diving shot across the goal mouth.

MICHIGAN (Zach Johnson, Graham Hertzberg) 12

Ohio State 14

Ohio State jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter but Michigan bounced back with four in a row to cut the Buckeyes’ lead to two early in the second quarter. Ohio State ran their lead back out to five before the Wolverines trimmed that lead back to three with a pair of goals to finish the first half. Michigan stayed within three as the teams traded scores to start the third quarter, then Ohio State netted three in a row and their lead ballooned out to six. Michigan rallied down the stretch with, scoring the last four goals of the game but ran out of time before they caught the Buckeyes.

Zach played in the game.

NAVY (JT Thomas) 12 OT

Army 11

While this season has been a challenging one for Navy and strong one for Army, when these two schools play each other, the season’s ups and downs mean far less than importance of the rivalry between these two service academies.

Army built and early lead scoring twice for each score by Navy in the first half. Army’s three goal lead at the half evaporated when the Midshipmen netted the first three goals of the second half to tie the game at six. Army got their lead back with a pair of scores but Navy responded with a run of four, now they were up buy two. Army answered with three to take the lead back with five minutes left in the game. Navy successfully killed off a penalty then tied the game up just under two minutes left in regulation. Both teams had scoring opportunities in the final two minutes, but all shots were wide of their targets.

Navy won the overtime faceoff on a violation, then went man-up due to a holding penalty on Army (Army’s only penalty of the game) and scored on their first shot.

PENN STATE (Nate Buller) 14 OT

Rutgers 15

Whether scoring single goals or pairs of goals, these Big Ten rivals swapped leads throughout the first half, each team having leads, but neither by more than one. That pattern broke in the second half as Penn State scored the first four goals of the second half. Rutgers scored twice to pull within one, but the Nittany Lions matched that to take back that three-goal advantage. Rutgers closed out regulation with a three-goal run, the last of which came with just eight seconds left on the clock. Rutgers won the faceoff to start overtime and, after an unnecessary roughness call against Penn State, got the game winner.

TOWSON (Mo Sillah) 12

Fairfield 8

This game started like a house on fire with the teams combining for eleven goals in the first quarter, but then the fire died out with just eight goals scored across the last three quarters. Fairfield got their first lead midway through the first period, but Towson responded with three goals and that was the end of Fairfield being ahead in the game. Two Towson goals ended the first half and another two started the second, putting the Tigers up by five. Fairfield scored once in the third and once in the fourth, never challenging the Tigers’ lead.

Mo played in the game for the Tigers.

YALE (Jake Cohen) 17

Albany 13

The Bulldogs survived their game against the Great Danes. Yale had two three-goal runs in the first half, one in each quarter while Albany could match that just once in the first half. Still, Yale led at the break for halftime by just two goals. After Yale scored first to start the second half, Albany ran off four in a row to take their first lead of the game. That lead disappeared quickly as Yale ran off four unanswered goals in the first three and a half minutes of the fourth period. Albany scored once more, then Yale closed out the game with a pair of scores.

Conference Tournaments

The Big Ten tournament starts this week with their quarterfinals games on Saturday. #1 seed Maryland has a bye, #4 Johns Hopkins faces #5 Penn State in a Bears vs. Bears game, and #6 Michigan plays #3 Ohio State. The conference semifinals and championship games are scheduled for May 5 and May 7.

The balance of the conference tournaments will take place May 3 through May 9.

D-I USILA POLL

1. Maryland

2. Georgetown

3. Rutgers

4. Virginia

5. Princeton

6. Yale

7. Notre Dame

8. Jacksonville

9. Duke

10. Brown

11. Ohio State

12. Penn

13. Cornell

14. Army

15. Harvard

16. Boston U.

17. Richmond

18. North Carolina

19. Denver

20. Saint Joseph’s

THIS COMING WEEK

The regular season wraps up with two Bears versus Bears games plus one in the first of the conference tournaments. Bucknell travels to Annapolis to play Navy and Yale hosts Harvard, and, as noted above, John Hopkins and Penn State get a rematch in the Big Ten quarters.

Closer, But Still Too Early NCAA Tournament Field

Big Ten: Maryland, Rutgers, Ohio State

Big East: Georgetown

ACC: Virginia, Notre Dame, Duke

Ivy: Brown, Princeton, Yale, Penn (constant flux)

Patriot: Boston U

Colonial: Fairfield

SoCon Jacksonville

Northeast: Saint Joseph’s

Atlantic Sun: Utah

MAC: Saint Bonaventure

America East: Vermont

Waiting in the wings: Cornell, Harvard, Army, North Carolina

D-III

AMHERST (Nicholas Kopp) 14

Middlebury 9

Middlebury dominated on faceoffs, ground balls, shots and shots on goal, a combination which usually leads to a win, but their starting goalie was a sieve, making just one save before being pulled.

Nicholas won five of nineteen faceoffs and had one ground ball for Amherst.

COLBY (Miles Tonkel) 13

Trinity 12

Down four midway through the second quarter, the Mules rallied to take a one goal lead at the half by netting five goals in the final five minutes of the half. Each team scored once in the third period, preserving Colby’s lead going into the fourth quarter. Colby and Trinity traded goals twice then Trinity tied the game up with less than four minutes left in the contest. Colby broke that tie then survived a barrage of Trinity shots in the closing seconds.

Miles played in the game.

COLORADO COLLEGE (Max Becker) 3

Christopher Newport 26

D-III’s new top-ranked team allowed the Tigers just a single score in each of the first three quarters and none in the fourth. The Captains opened the game by scoring the first five goals the game then ran away with the game by scoring the last seven goals of the first half and the first seven goals of the second half.

GETTYSBURG (Billy Banfield) 9

Dickinson 15

Dickinson, one of the four still undefeated teams in D-III men’s lacrosse, built an early lead by scoring twice for each goal netted by the Bullets and then bulked up that lead with a four-goal run in the middle of the second period. That run put Dickinson up by six. Gettysburg was able to trim that lead down to three twice in the second half, but each time they did, Dickinson rallied back.

GETTYSBURG (Billy Banfield) 5

Muhlenberg 3

Muhlenberg won the first half 3-0, Gettysburg won the second half 5-0. From the look of the box score, not much else happened.

SALISBURY (Jace Menendez) 10 2OT

Cabrini 9

Salisbury led by three at the half with that lead having been built off a four-goal run in the second period. Cabrini pulled close by winning the third period 2-0, then took the lead with five consecutive scores in the fourth quarter. Now the Gulls were down by three with time running out. Salisbury scrapped their way to scoring three goals in quick succession to force overtime. The first overtime period was dominated by errant shots and turnovers but in the second extra session, the Gulls kept things in their end of the field and got the game winner.

TUFTS (Garrett Kurtz) 16

Babson 9

Tufts’ six goal run across the first and second quarters was the foundation of their four-goal lead at halftime. Babson cut that lead in half to start the third period, but Tufts ran off three in a row in response. Another Babson goal was answered by another three in a row by the Jumbos. The teams then traded single scores until the clock expired.

Garrett scored the final goal of the game and got to two ground balls.

TUFTS (Garrett Kurtz) 16

Hamilton 10

Hamilton got their only back-to-back scores to start the game. That slight advantage held up for most of the first half as the teams mostly traded single scores. Tufts got the lead in the second quarter two stanzas of two in a row, but Hamilton knotted the game up at five all with the last score of the first half. The second half scoring was done to the steady beat of one for the Jumbos, one for the Continentals. That trend persisted until the middle of the fourth quarter when the Jumbos launched a five-goal run to close out the game.

Garrett took two shots and had one ground ball and one caused turnover.

WASHINGTON & LEE (Will Bou) 18

Bridgewater 11

Bridgewater scored the first and last goals of the first quarter, but the Generals got seven goals in between. W&L stretched their lead out in increments, scoring once or twice for each Bridgewater goal until they led by eleven in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater trimmed their deficit with a four-goal run to close out the game.

Will took one faceoff and had one ground ball.

WASHINGTON & LEE (Will Bou) 27

Guilford 6

Lots of nice scoring runs for the Generals which were occasionally interrupted by solo goals for Guilford. Washington and Lee had runs of seven goals in the first and second quarters, five in the third with a final run of seven straight to close out the third period and start the fourth. Guilford’s only instance of successive scores were the last two goals of the game.

Will contributed to this dominant performance by winning sixteen of twenty-one faceoffs and scooping up twelve ground balls. He also took one shot on the day.

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