(Photo Courtesy of Navy Athletics)
Just under a minute into the overtime period, Jack Sweeney put home the game-winner off a feed from Max Hewitt to secure the overtime victory for the Navy Midshipmen. The score, which came on a man-up situation, was Sweeney’s first goal in two weeks and lone score of the day, but the most important as it ensured that the Midshipmen would sing second.
James Pryor was called for a holding penalty at the 3:24 mark of the overtime period, which gave the Midshipmen that man-up opportunity. It was the only penalty of the day for the Black Knights.
That final goal capped off not only the game, but what had been a very good second half for Navy. After falling behind 6-3 at the intermission, the Midshipmen kicked it into another gear in the third quarter and was able to ride that wave to force overtime and eventually seal the win.
Nick Cole scored the overtime-forcing goal with 1:57 left in regulation. Cole’s score ended what had been a three-goal Army run over the previous six-plus minutes in which goals from Brendan Nicthern, Reese Burek, and Danny Kielbasa pulled the Black Knights ahead 11-10.
Prior to that short spurt from the Black Knights, it had been all Navy in the second half. The Midshipmen outscored Army 4-2 in the third quarter, tying things at 6-6 before heading into the final frame trailing by just one, 8-7. The Midshipmen put together another run early in the fourth to take their largest lead of the game, 10-8, with 9:27 left in regulation.
All in all, Navy outscored Army 9-5 in the final two frames, plus the overtime period. The trio of Xavier Arline (2G/2A), Nick Cole (2G/2A), and Patrick Skalniak (3G) combined for 11 points to lead the way for a Navy offense that found its rhythm during the second half of an otherwise, characteristically defensive service academy tilt.
Navy also got significant contributions from faceoff man Nate Hammond, who went 14-for-27 (51%), and goalie Pat Ryan. He ended the day with 11 saves on the day and made seven of those saves during the first half.
The first half of the game for the Midshipmen was marred by turnovers as they committed 13 during the first two frames. They committed just six turnovers in the second half, ending the day with 19 (nine caused).
Brendan Nichtern (3G/1A) had four points to lead Army while Reese Burek (2G/1A) had three points. Paul Johnson and Jacob Morin each had two goals.
Brown Beats Cornell 13-8 For Third Consecutive Top-10 Win
Another week. Another top-10 win for the Brown Bears.
This time, the Bears went into Ithaca and knocked off the Cornell Big Red 13-8 in a game where they lead from start to finish.
Connor Theriault made a career-high 24 saves to lead the way for the Bears’ defense while Brian Antonelli (4G/1A) and Devon McLane (4G/1A) each had the same stat line for a combined 10 points. Trevor Glavin, who made his second career start on Saturday, dished out four assists in the win.
Brown jumped out ahead 6-0 in the first quarter and never looked back as they led all the way though the final buzzer. A 4-0 second quarter from Cornell pulled the Big Red within two, 6-4, at the half. However, they were never able to get any closer.
In the second half, Brown kept their foot on the gas on both ends as they outscored the Big Red 7-4 in the final two frames. Theriault made 14 of his saves in that second half, facing 18 shots on cage from Cornell.
Cornell was led by a five-goal outing by John Piatelli. Angelo Petrakis went 13-for-23 (56%) at the faceoff dot and Chayse Ierlan made 15 saves in cage.
Cornell moves to face Princeton next week in their regular season finale while Brown will face Bryant midweek in the battle for the Ocean State Cup before ending the year at home against Dartmouth. Both the Big Red and Bears are 3-2 in Ivy League play and in a five-way tie for first.
Harvard Comes Back to Defeat Princeton
A big reason for that five-way tie at the top of the Ivy League is because of the Harvard Crimson and their 19-16 victory over No. 3 Princeton on Saturday afternoon.
Following a quick, four-goal run from the Tigers early in the second quarter, Harvard found themselves down 9-4 and with all the momentum on their opponents sideline.
Princeton won the ensuing faceoff to seemingly give themselves another possession and scoring opportunity, but a defensive stop would be just what Harvard needed to regain some momentum.
That stop was turned into a Miles Botkiss score on the other end, which proved to be the spark for the Crimson the rest of the game. Harvard ended the half on a 3-1 run to pull within 10-7 at the break before ultimately outscoring the Tigers 4-2 in the third quarter to take the lead back for the first time since early in the first.
From Botkiss’ score with 8:20 left in the second quarter through the final buzzer, Harvard outscored Princeton 15-7. And much of that offense came in the fourth quarter alone, where the Crimson went 8-4 to close things out and secure the win. That included a game-ending 4-1 run in the final 5:15 of the game that ended with a Lucas Hilsenrath score off a dodge from the back corner with under a minute left.
A big part of Harvard’s success on the day can be attributed to the play of Kyle Mullin. The goalie ended the day with 18 saves in cage to anchor the Harvard defensive effort and help stifle the Princeton offense, which got off 55 shots on the day (34 on cage).
Sam King led the offensive effort for the Crimson with five points off three goals and two assists. Botkiss had four goals and Owen Gaffney had four points (2G/2A).
Princeton’s Tyler Sandoval went 18-for-35 at the dot while Steven Cuccurullo went 15-for-28. The two sides went 50% combined on the day.
Alex Slusher and Coulter Mackesy each had four goals for Princeton.
Princeton will end their regular season at home against Cornell next week. Harvard will face Yale on the road.
Ley’s Game-Winner Pushes Boston U. Past Lehigh in Top Patriot League Battle
With the clock ticking down, Matt Hilburn took the ball behind the cage and subsequently found a cutting Timmy Ley right in front of the goal with a pair of Mountain Hawk defenders following. Ley would grab the Hilburn pass and take a back-handed shot, which got past James Spence for the score.
That wild Ley score not only gave him a hat trick on the day and secured the win for the Terriers, but also secure the program’s first Patriot League regular season title.
In addition to Ley’s hat trick, Louis Perfetto (1G/2A) and Vince D’Alto (2G/1A) each had three points.
Matt Garber had 10 saves to anchor the Terriers’ defensive effort in cage. Roy Meyer had a monster day with four caused turnovers, three ground balls, and an assist. Conor Calderone went 13-for-21 (61%) at the dot against Mike Sisselberger.
In part due to Calderone’s dominance at the dot, Boston U. held the momentum for the majority of the game as they only trailed once (2-1 late in the first quarter). Lehigh took that lead early in the game thanks to consecutive Scott Cole goals. It would be one of only two times in the game where the Mountain Hawks scored consecutively. The other came late in the contest just prior to the Terriers’ game-wining possession. Tommy Schelling grabbed a long rebound and found Justin Tiernan for the score to make it a one-goal game. Just over a minute later, Tiernan fed Christian Mule’ for his fourth goal of the day to tie things up, 8-8.
In addition to the five-point (4G/1A) outing from Mule’, Schelling dished out five assists.
Rutgers Avoids Upset, Passes Penn State in OT
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights ended their regular season slate avoiding what could have been one of the biggest upsets of the year as they took down the Penn State Nittany Lions 15-14 in overtime.
Rutgers found themselves up 9-8 at the half, but a four-goal Penn State run to open the third quarter put them down 12-9. While a pair from Shane Knobloch and Ross Scott late in the frame made it a one-goal game, Penn State got two more from Jake Morin and Mark Sickler to start the fourth and make it a 14-12 game. However, those would be the last two scores the Nittany Lions would see.
Ronan Jacoby, Brian Cameron, and Ross Scott all found the back of the net. Scott’s goal, which came with just eight seconds left, would force overtime. He would then get the rock on a man-up opportunity with 2:21 left in the extra frame and put home the game-winner.
With his game-tying and game-winning scores, Scott ended the day with five goals to lead the Rutgers offense. Mitch Bartolo had a hat trick and Shane Knobloch had sox points off two goals and four assists.
Jonathan Dugenio went 54% (17-for-31) at the faceoff dot while Colin Kirst made eight saves.
Canyon Birch (2G/1A) and Ethan Long (1G/2A) each had three points for Penn State. Jack Fraycon made 14 saves in cage.
Maryland Rolls Johns Hopkins
The Maryland Terrapins continued to show why they are the best team in college lacrosse on Saturday night as they rolled rival Johns Hopkins 22-7.
Maryland opened up the game with a dominant 6-1 first quarter and never took their foot off the gas. The Terrapins would roll that into a 12-4 halftime lead. They really broke things open in the third quarter, where they outscored the Blue Jays 10-0 and headed into the final frame on an 11-0 run.
Maryland took their starters out in the fourth quarter.
Three Hopkins goals from Jonathan Peshko, Garrett Degnon, and Alexander Mabbett ended the game.
Logan Wisnauskas led the way for the Terrapins with eight points off five goals and three assists. Eric Malever (1G/4A), Keegan Khan (4G/1A), and Owen Murphy (4G/1A) each ended the day with five points.
Luke Wierman went 17-for-27 (62%) at the faceoff dot and Logan McNaney made 11 saves.
Evan James Leads Loyola Past Colgate in OT
After two consecutive losses, the Loyola Greyhounds got back in the win column on Saturday afternoon with an 11-10 overtime victory over Colgate.
In what was a game of runs, Colgate took a 10-8 lead with 7:33 remaining in regulation. Evan James would then go on to score three consecutive goals, including the overtime-forcing score with 39 seconds on the clock and the game-winner with 1:55 in OT, to pull Loyola to victory.
James ended the day four goals, as did Adam Poitras. Aidan Olmstead had one goals and four assists for five points. Sam Shafer made 11 saves in cage.
Other Scores
- Utah beat Bellarmine 12-11 to capture the ASUN regular season title
- Vermont locked up the top seed in the America East with a 17-10 win over Binghamton
- Richmond pulled away from High Point in a 16-5 win to earn the No. 2 seed in the SoCon
- Ryan Archer and Derrek Madonna combined for 17 points in Hobart’s 22-19 win over LIU for their third consecutive NEC win.
- Luke Keating had eight points (5G/3A) to push Villanova past Marquette 10-8
- Bo Columbus dominated the dot (14-for-20, 70%) in Robert Morris’ crucial 11-10 win over Air Force
- Jeff Connor and Matt Moore combined for 14 points in Virginia’s dominant 21-15 win over Syracuse
- Tye Kurtz had nine points (8G/1A) in Delaware’s 16-15 win over Drexel
Lacrosse Bucket 