(Photo Courtesy of Utah Athletics)
What many called the best mid-major game of the week coming into Saturday turned into one of the best games of the day as the Utah Utes beat the Vermont Catamounts 11-10. It is the first win for Andrew McMinn at Utah and the program’s first Top-20 win in program history.
Trailing 3-1 late in the first, Utah kicked it into high gear on both ends of the field for much of the next 30 or so minutes of play. Three consecutive goals from Colby Plotts, Josh Rose, and Jordan Hyde to end the first quarter helped spark a six-goal run for the Utes that would last through the 4:29 mark in the third.
Vermont was able to get their offense up and running again with David Closterman and Nick Alviti scoring near the end of the third to end their nearly 30 minute drought. The Catamounts answered two straight Utah goals with a five-goal run in the fourth quarter to knot things all up at 10 with 6:06 remaining in regulation.
After two empty possessions, Utah converted off a Josh Rose goal with 1:28 left in the game to take the lead. Vermont had multiple opportunities late to make something happen, but came up empty each time with two turnovers in the final 1:08 of regulation.
Tyler Bradbury led Utah with five points off two goals and three assists while Jordan Hyde had two goals and two assists for four points. Vermont was led by David Closterman’s four points (2G/2A).
Vermont’s Tommy Burke won the battle at the faceoff dot, going 14-for-25 (56%). Ryan Cornell made 11 saves in cage for the Catamounts.
The Utah defense saw LSM Ruben Santana scoop up four ground balls and cause three turnovers while Zion Dechesere made nine saves in cage.
Vermont outshot Utah 39-35 and had 20 turnovers to the Utes’ 22. In the clearing game, Utah went 22-for-24 while Vermont went 20-for-23.
Daly leads Villanova past Penn State
In a game that pitted the old versus the young in many respects, it was the old that came up victorious as the Villanova Wildcats edged the Penn State Nittany Lions
Villanova owned the first half of play, getting out to a 3-0 lead through the first few minutes of play and taking an 8-5 lead into the half. However, the Nittany Lions did show some fight with a 3-1 lead to end the first quarter and two goals to end the half.
That Penn State energy would soon be seen not only late in a quarter as the Nittany Lions put in five consecutive goals from the 12:32 mark through the end of the third quarter to take their first lead of the game. It would be a Will Peden goal off a dodge from X that put them up 10-9 heading into the final frame.
In the fourth quarter, Villanova was able to get a goal early on and them find the back of the net once more off a Luke Keating score to take back the lead. But they wouldn’t hold it for long as Jack Traynor tied things back up again for Penn State just over two minutes later. Patrick Daly scored for Villanova and Will Peden followed up with one for Penn State to knot things all up at 12 with 1:24 remaining. Daly cashed in his sixth of the day to put the Wildcats ahead with one minute left and ultimately secure the victory.
Penn State got the ensuing possession, but all they could get was a Jack Kelly shot that hit the crossbar with seven seconds remaining.
In addition to Daly’s six goals, Villanova was led by Luke Keating with four points off two goals and two assists. Jack Traynor had five points off four goals and one assist for Penn State.
Will Vitton made 11 saves in cage to anchor the Wildcats’ defense.
Denver Owns The West
A week after narrowly beating Utah, the Denver Pioneers took down the Air Force Falcons 12-9 to become the champions western DI lacrosse.
In what was a very back-and-forth contest, Denver was always able to stay one step ahead of the Falcons. A three-goal Pioneers run, which included two from JJ Sillstrop, to start the third was what helped Denver stay ahead and weather the Falcons 4-3 run from late in the second through the midway point in the third where they cut the lead to two multiple times.
Alec Stathakis went 17-for-26 (65%) at the dot for the Pioneers while JJ Sillstrop led the offense with five points off four goals and an assist.
Jason Rose made 18 saves in cage for the Falcons. Brenden Crouse had six goals to lead the Air Force offense.
Maryland Downs Loyola
Despite leading just 4-2 at the end of the first quarter, the Terrapins turned on the jets and blasted the Loyola Greyhounds in the final three periods of play.
A 10-goal third quarter put Maryland firmly in front, 14-5, at the half and they never looked back. A five-goal run that lasted from midway through third quarter until early in the fourth proved to be the cherry on top as the Terrapins sprinted to a dominating 20-8 victory over Loyola.
Logan Wisnauskas led the way once again with six points off three goals and three assists. Keegan Khan tallied five points with four assists and one goal while Jonathan Donville recorded four points on the day with a hat trick and an assist.
Luke Wierman went 19-for-25 (76%) at the faceoff dot for the Terrapins and Logan McNaney made six saves.
Loyola was led by a four-point outing from Adam Poitras (2G/2A).
The Gary Gait Era at Syracuse Starts Strong
In Gary Gait’s head coaching debut with the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team, the Orange dominated the visiting Holy Cross Crusaders 28-5.
Syracuse sprinted out to a 9-0 lead at the end of the first quarter before adding on even more, taking a 19-3 lead at the half and ending the game on a 9-3 run to secure the blowout victory.
Owen Seebold, Brendan Curry, and Tucker Dordevic each had six points on the day to lead the Orange. Seebold put up five goals and one assists while Curry had four goals and two assists. Doedevic netted a game-high five goals (including a nasty BTB score) and dished out one assist.
Jakob Phaub went 15-for-18 (83%) as the Orange’s top option at the dot. Bobby Gavin got the start in cage and made seven saves in one half of play.
Dean DiNanno had two points off one goal and one assist to lead Holy Cross.
Saint Joseph’s Completes The Comeback Against St. Bonaventure
After falling behind 7-2 at the half, the Saint Joseph’s Hawks were able to come all the way back and take down the St. Bonaventure Bonnies 12-11 on the road.
The Hawks opened the third quarter with a four-goal run to make it a one-goal, 7-6, game. They then tied it up at 8 with 2:11 in the period before finishing out the game on a 4-2 run to seal the deal. Saint Joseph’s final two goals of the contest came within the the last 20 seconds of the contest with Tucker Brown scoring a man-up goal to tie it and Levi Anderson putting one past Brett Dobson with four seconds left to earn the Hawks the victory.
Anderson led the way for the Hawks with two goals and three assists for five points. Zach Cole went 20-for-26 (76%) at the faceoff dot.
Jackson Rose had four goals to lead the Bonnies’ offense. Brett Dobson anchored the defense with 22 saves (16 in the first half).
Other Scores
- Dylan Donnery put in the game-winner with less than a minute left to push Quinnipiac past UMass Lowell 15-14.
- Wyatt Schupler made 18 saves as Army held off UMass 14-13.
- Boston U. staved off a second half comeback, which included a Merrimack goalie goal, to secure the 12-10 win.
- Behind a 20-for-22 (91%) effort at the dot, Ohio State beat Cleveland State 17-9.
- Josh Zawada has 10 points (5G/5A) in a 21-5 Michigan routing of Detroit Mercy.
- Bobby O’Grady had four goals, including the game-winner, in a triple-overtime victory for Marquette over Bellarmine.
- Dante Kulas and Ross Scott has six points each in Rutgers’ 23-6 win over St. John’s.
- Connor Davis had five points (4G/1A) in Bucknell’s 14-12 win over Robert Morris.
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