(Photo Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics)

The first game in 714 days for the Yale Bulldogs was a success as Andy Shay’s squad came up victorious against the Villanova Wildcats 17-14 in a contest that was very much a game of runs.

Matt Brandau led the way with six points off five goals and one assist while Will Cabera (2G/2A) and freshman Leo Johnson (3G) also contributed heavily. Jared Parquette got the start in cage for the Elis and made nine saves.

Luke Keating (2G/3A) led Villanova with five points while Matt Campbell (3G/1A) and Patrick Daly (4G) each had four points on the day.

After falling behind 5-1 late in the first, Villanova put in three man-up goals to pull within 6-4 early in the second. The Wildcats put away four more to take an 8-7 lead at the half. Matt Brandau’s third of the day was the only bit of offensive success the Bulldogs were able to find in the second period of play.

Turning the tables, Yale outscored Villanova 9-1 in the third quarter to take a sizable 16-9 lead heading into the final period of play. A 5-1 Villanova run, which included two man-up goals, helped the Wildcats climb back into the game in the fourth but they would ultimately come up short.

Villanova outshot Yale 43-34 and won the ground ball battle 37-34. At the faceoff dot, Machado Rodriguez went 10-for-17 (58%) as the primary option for the Bulldogs.

Georgetown Survives Against Penn

After riding high in the final three quarters of play in their season opener against Johns Hopkins last Sunday, the Georgetown Hoyas had to fight for victory against the Penn Quakers in what was a top-10 matchup.

Georgetown led 5-2 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a four-goal run to end the frame. Graham Bundy, Jr. scored the final two goals of that run. The Bulldogs’ lead was trimmed to just two (6-4) at the half thanks to the Quakers getting their early offense going with two transition goals coming from Dylan Gergar and Cam Rubin.

In the second half of play, the Hoyas and Quakers went an even 4-4 as the two sides traded blows for most of the final 30 minutes of play. However, the Hoys were able to stay ahead and hold off the opposition to secure the 10-8 victory. Connor Morin scored the final goal of the contest with 1:58 left to make it a two-goal game. The Quakers were unable to get a settled possession in the final minute of play, and thus not able to get an opportunity to make one last effort.

Graham Bundy, Jr. had two goals and two assists to lead the Hoyas with four points. James Reilly went 14-for-22 (63%) at the dot and Will Bowen led the way for the Georgetown defense with four caused turnovers and two ground balls. Three of those caused turnovers came on Sam Handley, who Bowen was matched up on for most of the game and helped hold to just one goal and two assists.

Dylan Gergar netted four goals to lead the Quakers’ offense.

Owen Mcelroy made 11 saves in cage for the Hoyas while Emmett Carroll got the start in between the pipes for the Quakers and made 12 saves.

Ohio State Upsets North Carolina

Behind a 69% (18-for-26) effort at the faceoff dot from Justin Inacio, the Ohio State Buckeyes earned the biggest win of the day as they took down the No. 4 North Carolina Tar Heels 20-8 in Chapel Hill.

In addition to the dominance at the faceoff dot from Inacio and company, the Buckeyes used a massive second-half seven-goal run to expand their lead from 10-7 late in the third to 17-7 midway through the fourth quarter. Jason Knox put in three straight to end the game and seal the massive win for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State held the Tar Heels to just nine shots on cage (20 shots overall) in the final two periods of play. Those efforts helped the Buckeyes to outscore the Tar Heels 14-3 in the second half. It was just a 6-5 Buckeye led at the end of the first two periods.

Jack Myers led the Ohio State offense with nine points off two goals and seven assists, four of which came in the second half. Jason Knox ended with four goals and Colby Smith also had four points off three goals and one assist. Caton Johnson made 12 saves in cage.

Chris Gray led North Carolina with seven points off three goals and four assists.

Johns Hopkins Wins The Battle of Charles Street

Despite going 18-for-26 (10-14 in second half) in the clearing game, the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays were able to put an end to their three-game losing streak against down-street rival Loyola.

Finding themselves down 10-8 early in the fourth after a buzzer-beater from Joey kamish to end the third and Seth Higgins score within the first five minutes of the final stanza, Johns Hopkins came to life. Ryan Evans ripped a lefty score with 9:15 remaining and Joey Epstein got one to go from deep just a few minutes later. Scott Smith put the cherry on top, taking it coast-to-coast for a pole goal that would prove to be the game-winner.

Loyola had three separate chances to make something happen in the final 5:22 of the game but came up empty, only being able to get two shots off.

Joey Epstein led the Blue Jays with five points off two goals and three assists. Josh Kirson made 14 saves to anchor the Hopkins defense.

Joey Kamish had four goals to lead the Loyola offense. On the other end of the field, Colton Teitelbaum got the start in cage and Luke Staudt also saw action. The Greyhounds made just four saves all game.

Rutgers Survives Army West Point

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights walked away with the 13-10 victory on Saturday afternoon, but it was one that didn’t come easy as the Black Knights of Army West Point never seemed to go away.

After getting up 7-1 early in the second, the Black Knights came storming back to eventually tie things up at 8 with 9:17 remaining in the third. Rutgers ended the game on a 5-2 run, which included two consecutive goals from Shane Knobloch, to help stay ahead and secure the win.

Ronan Jacoby led the way with six goals for the Scarlet Knights. Jonathan Dugenio went 56% (14-for-25) at the dot. Colin Kirst made 15 saves in cage.

Brendan Nicthern tallied five points (2G/3A) to lead the way for Army. Wyatt Schupler made nine saves in cage to anchor the Black Knights’ defense.

Duke Pulls Away from Denver

After being upset by Jacksonville last Sunday, John Danowski’s Blue Devils bounced back strong with a 19-10 win over Denver on Saturday afternoon.

The Pioneers ran with Duke for the entire first half, only trailing 9-6 at the intermission. However, the Blue Devils exploded in the final two quarters of play to pull away for the big victory. Duke outscored Denver 10-4 in the final two quarters of play, which included a six-goal run from late in the third through early in the fourth that really put things away.

Brennan O’Neill and Dyson Williams each had six points off four goals and two assists to lead the way for the Blue Devils. JJ Sillstrop had six points (5G/1A) for Denver.

Other Notable Scores

• Pat and Chris Kavanagh combined for 14 points (eight goals) in Notre Dame’s 24-2 win over Detroit Mercy.
• A 7-1 third quarter helped Saint Joseph’s get past Penn State 15-13.
• Cornell beat UAlbany 16-8 to record its first win in the Connor Buczek era.
• After being up by one (7-6) at the half, Virginia exploded in the final two quarters to secure an 18-9 win over Towson.
• Adam Shea went 14-for-27 (52%) against Mike Sisselberger to help push Hobart past Lehigh 14-11.
• Max Waldbaum had four points (3G/1A) as Jacksonville topped Marquette 14-10.
• Dylan Pallonetti and Kevin Mack combined for 12 points in Stony Brook’s 18-14 win over Robert Morris.
• Henry Vogt made 21 saves in Merrimack’s 8-6 win over Dartmouth.