(Photo Courtesy Rachel Pincus/Notre Dame Athletics)
No more undefeated teams remain in DI men’s lacrosse.
In a battle between the No. 3 Virginia Cavaliers and the No. 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend, Ind., on Saturday afternoon it was the visiting Cavaliers who came away victorious with a 15-10 win. The Cavaliers’ victory hands the Irish their first loss of the season.
Connor Shellenberger (2G/5A) and Xander Dickson (6G/1A) combined for 14 points (eight goals) to lead the way for the Cavaliers in the victory. The pair connected for four goals in the contest. Payton Cormier (2G/2A) was also a main contributor for the Cavaliers’ offense while Petey LaSalla went 17-for-29 (59%) at the dot.
Matthew Nunes anchored the Virginia defense with 14 saves and a 58% save percentage.
While it was the Cavaliers’ offense who scored five straight to end the first quarter with the 5-1 lead and later ended the third quarter on a 6-2 run to pull ahead 13-9 heading into the final frame, it was that Virginia defense that was perhaps the most impressive in the win.
Virginia held the Irish to their lowest goal total of the season and caused 10 of their 16 turnovers. The Cavaliers also won the ground ball battle 33-26 and forced a pair of Notre Dame failed clear; each of which led to a Virginia goal.
Pat Kavanagh led the Irish with four points off two goals and two assists while Brian Teviln had two assists. Jake Taylor, who made his first start of the season, had two goals along with Chris Kavanagh.
Chris Kavanagh scored the first goal of the game but that 1-0 lead the only Notre Dame would get all day. A Pat Kavanagh score late in the second helped spark a four-goal Notre Dame run that lasted through the early portion of the third quarter and made it a 7-7 game. That, however, is as close as the Irish would get as the Cavaliers were always there to punch back.
Virginia’s third quarter, 6-2 run followed that Notre Dame spurt and helped effectively put this one in the books. Virginia added a pair in the final frame from Peter Garno and Xander Dickson to get them to 15.
Virginia (7-1) moves to face Duke at home next Friday. Notre Dame (6-1) moves to face Syracuse on Saturday.
Maryland Staves off Penn State
With 2:58 left in the final frame, Kevin Winkoff turned the corner and put one past Maryland’s Brian Ruppel to end Penn State’s nearly 28 minute scoring drought. The score, coming in part due to a broken stick from a Maryland SSDM that forced him to run off and leave the Terrapins exposed, came following a Maryland possession that ended in a shot clock violation and interjected a good amount of energy into a seemingly cold offense.
Penn State, however, was unable to capitalize on that momentum. Maryland ran down the clock of its next possession and after regaining possession Penn State was only able to get off one shot, which was right at the stick of Ruppel. The Terrapins would be able to clear and run the clock out for the 13-10 win.
Jack Koras led Maryland with a hat trick in the contest. Two of those goals came in the second half as he found himself wide open and cutting from X for the score twice in the final two frames. Koras’ final goal was the Terrapins last with 5:30 remaining.
While the second half saw the two teams combine for just four goals, the first half was a different game. Maryland held a 10-8 lead at the break and each team had gone on a big run. An Eric Spanos goal late in the first sparked a six-goal run for Maryland to put them up 8-3 with 14:19 in the second. Penn State followed up with by scoring six of the next seven to cut the lead to two at the end of the frame.
The one constant throughout the game? Maryland’s possession advantage. Luke Wierman went 19-for-27 (70%) at the faceoff dot and grabbed nine ground balls. Maryland won the ground ball battle 38-18. The Terrapins also caused eight of Penn State’s 11 turnovers.
Brian Ruppel made nine saves in cage with a 47% save percentage. Six of those saves came during the second half alone.
Jack Traynor led Penn State with four goals while Jack Fracyon made 13 saves in cage with a 50% save percentage.
Maryland moves to host Michigan next week. Penn State will play Ohio State at home next Sunday.
Princeton Dominates Yale
The Princeton Tigers earned their first Ivy League win of the season as they knocked off the Yale Bulldogs in a big 23-10 victory. For Yale, they drop to 0-2 in Ivy League play and have given up
Coulter Mackesy led the way for the Tigers with 10 points off eight goals and two assists. Alexander Vardaro (1G/4A) and Christian Ronda (4G) were also heavy contributors on that end with five and four points, respectively.
Jack Monfort got Yale on the board first but it didn’t take long for Princeton, or more accurately Coulter Mackesy, to get going. Mackesy scored each of the first five Tiger goals to put them ahead 5-1 early in the second frame. Jack Ringhofer, Beau Pederson, and Lukas Stanat added three of their own to pull the Tigers ahead 8-1 with 9:48 left in the first half.
Princeton added four more scores late in the half to head into the break with a 12-3 advantage. The Tigers put together a six-goal run, three-goal run, and two goals run at different times during the second half to stay ahead.
While the Mackesy-led offense made headlines for putting up 23 in the win, the Princeton defense had an equally great performance. Ben Finlay held Yale’s Matt Brandau to just two assists. Jacob Stoebner held Leo Johnson to no goals and no assists. Overall, the Tigers caused 13 of Yale’s 22 turnovers.
Michael Gianforcaro anchored the Princeton defensive effort with 14 saves.
Princeton also held Yale to a 16-for-22 (72%) mark in the clearing game. That included a second quarter where the Tigers held the Bulldogs to a 2-for-5 mark in that department.
Princeton outshot Yale 66-43 and put 36 of their shots on cage. Yale put 24 of their shots on cage. Princeton grabbed 38 ground balls to Yale’s 37 and went 18-for-36 (50%) at the dot as a team with Koby Ginder (15-for-29, 51%) leading the way.
Yale saw Chris Lyons have four goals to lead the way while Thomas Bragg had three goals.
Princeton moves to play Brown next week. Yale will travel to Penn next week.
Dartmouth Snaps 35-Game Ivy League Losing Streak
For the first time since March 21, 2015, the Dartmouth Big Green won an Ivy League game as they took down Harvard 10-9 in overtime on Saturday.
With 1:38 left in the overtime period, Brandon Ventarola came down the field and let a shot rip that was stopped by Harvard’s Christian Barnard. Bouncing off Barnard, Colin McGill goosed the ball into the back of the net for the game-winner.
Dartmouth trailed 9-5 entering the fourth quarter but went on to score each of the next four goals, which included Nate Davis’ overtime-forcing goal with 5:06 remaining in regulation. McGill’s game winner made it five straight goals to end the game for the Big Green. That final score was McGill’s third of the fourth quarter and fourth on the day as he ended with five points (4G/1A) to lead the Big Green.
Mason Morel, in his first start, made seven saves to anchor a Dartmouth defense who held Harvard off the board for nearly 20 minutes in those final frames and came up with two bigs stops late. That first stop came late in the final seconds of regulation to help force overtime and the second came in overtime as all Harvard could get was two shots off cage.
Teddy Malone led Harvard with four goals and one assist while Sam King had four points off two goals and two assists.
Dartmouth moves to play Cornell on the road next week. Harvard will face Colgate on the road in its final non-conference game.
Three Winners and Three Losers
Winners: Virginia Cavaliers
A week after falling to Maryland at home in an overtime heartbreaker, the Virginia Cavaliers found themselves back in the win column as they went into a rowdy Arlotta stadium and knocked off the to-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame led just once (1-0) and was only able to tie it once (7-7 early in the third). Virginia saw Connor Shellenberger (2G/5A) and Xander Dickson (6G/1A) led the way on offense while Petey LaSalla went 17-for-29 (59%) at the dot, and Matthew Nunes made 14 saves (58%) to anchor a staunch defensive performance. It was Virginia’s most complete and best game of the season.
Winners: Army West Point
For the second week in a row, the Black Knights have earned a statement win in Patriot League play. Last week it came against Lehigh and this week against Loyola in a convincing 10-5 victory.
AJ Pilate held Davis Lindsey to just one goal and Knox Dent made seven saves before leaving the game due to injury late in the third quarter. Matt Chess came in and made three saves and allowed one goal in the final 21:37. Those performances headlined what was the best defensive day for Army this season. Jacob Morin led the offense with four goals. Evan Plukett had four assists; three of which came to Morin.
Winners: Princeton Tigers
The Princeton Tigers losing streak was snapped on Saturday afternoon as they took it to Yale in a 23-10 beatdown. Princeton saw Coulter Mackesy lead the way for the Tigers with 10 points off eight goals and two assists. Ben Finlay held Yale’s Matt Brandau to just two assists. Jacob Stoebner held Leo Johnson to no goals and no assists. The pair headlined a stellar defensive performance from the Tigers.
Losers: Loyola Greyhounds
In each of its three big games (Rutgers, Duke, Army) since those two early season upsets (Maryland, Johns Hopkins), Loyola has lost. The latest of those came against Patriot League foe Army West Point on Saturday afternoon as they fell 10-5.
Loyola scored just one goal in the final 33 or so minutes of the contest and were upped in every category by the Black Knights.
Losers: Lehigh Mountain Hawks
Lehigh lost to Georgetown 17-15 in a game where they scored the final three goals and had opportunities late with three shots missing in the final 4:06 of the game. It marks the second week in a row where the Mountain Hawks have come up short by two goals.
The Mountain Hawks again struggled in the clearing game, going 15-for-21 (71%) in that category. Lehigh also committed 25 turnovers (14 caused).
Losers: Yale Bulldogs
After falling 23-10 to Princeton on Saturday afternoon, the Yale Bulldogs are 0-2 in Ivy League play. The Bulldogs have allowed 43 goals in those two games and have a goal differential of -23. Yale’s defense continues to play poorly. It struggled offensively and even in just getting possessions today, as well.
Conference by Conference Notes
ACC
- Duke defeated Saint Joseph’s 12-9 in a game where its defense showed through, holding Matt Bohmer and Levi Anderson without a goal.
- North Carolina blasted Providence 25-8 for its third consecutive win.
- Syracuse beat Hobart 18-7, riding behind a six-point (4G/2A) day from Joey Spallina.
America East
- Bryant bulldozed UMass Lowell 20-4.
- Binghamton defeated NJIT 17-16 in a game where Gage Adams (6G/1A) Matthew Keegan (3G/3A) had seven and six points, respectively.
- UMBC defeated Merrimack 15-5, riding behind a five goal, one assist day from Mateo Brown.
- Vermont beat UAlbany 14-7. Tommy Burke went 18-for-23 at the dot while Brock Haley (6G/2A) had eight points.
ASUN
- Air Force beat Lindenwood 15-6
- Bellarmine defeated Queens 24-12
- Jacksonville escaped Mercer in an 18-15 decision. Dylan Watson (4G/1A) and Marshall McGuire (3G/2A) scored each of the final three goals to ensure the win.
- Robert Morris best Cleveland State 11-6 in a game where the Colonials went 5-1 in the final frame.
- Utah blew out Detroit Mercy 24-11
Atlantic 10
- Lance Madonna had a hat trick to lead Richmond past St. John’s 11-8.
- UMass held off Brown in a 10-9 victory.
Big East
- Georgetown defeated Lehigh 17-15. Tucker Dordevic had six goals and one assist.
- Marquette topped St. Bonaventure 9-5 in a game where Bobby O’Grady had four goals.
Big Ten
- Johns Hopkins outscored Michigan 5-2 in the final frame to pull away in a 15-11 win. Garrett Degnon had five goals whole Russell Melendez had four goals and three assists for seven points.
- Ohio State defeated Rutgers 11-9 in a defensive effort that was anchored by a 17-save day from Skyler Wahlund,
CAA
- Drexel defeated Hampton 18-4.
- Stony Brook beat Monmouth 14-12 in a game where Dylan Pallonetti had six goals and one assist.
- Delaware defeated Hofstra 15-7. Clay Miller led the Blue Hens with a hat trick.
- Towson topped Fairfield 11-7.
Ivy League
- Cornell topped Penn 18-12 on Sunday in a game where CJ Kirst scored seven goals.
MAAC
- Mount St. Mary’s beat Wagner 10-7, riding behind a four-goal outing from TJ Gravante.
- Jake Ward had four goals to lead Sacred Heart past VMI 16-4.
- Manhattan topped Canisius 14-9 in a game where the Jaspers blanked the opposition in the fourth.
- LIU scored a big win over Siena, 13-11.
- Quinnipiac beat Marist 14-12 in a contest where the Bobcats ended the game on a 6-3 run.
Patriot League
- Boston U. escaped Lafayette 12-11.Timmy Ley (2G/1A) became the program’s leading career point-getter (195) during the contest.
- Navy broke its six-game losing streak with a 13-8 win over Holy Cross.
- Bucknell defeated Colgate 14-10. Connor Davis led the way with five goals in the win.
Lacrosse Bucket 