(Photo Courtesy of Michigan Athletics)
The Michigan Wolverines defeated arch rival Ohio State 19-14 on Friday night. It marked the Wolverines’ third win over the Buckeyes in history and helped them clinch the No. 4 seed in next week’s Big Ten Tournament.
Michael Boehm put up a program-record eight goals to lead the way for Michigan in the win. Josh Zawada (3G/1A) and Ryan Cohen (3G/1A) each had four points off identical state lines.
Shane made six saves in cage to anchor the Michigan defense.
Nick Rowlett went 15-for-20 (75%) at the dot while Justin Wietfeldt went 14-for-17 (82%). The pair went a combined 29-for-37 (78%) on the day.
Michigan’s faceoff duo started off hot, going a perfect 8-for-8 through the first quarter to play while helping the Wolverines jump out to a 5-2 lead. That opening frame saw the Wolverines score each of the final four goals of the quarter within a minute of each other as Justin Wietfeldt and Emmett Houlihan each found the back of the net once while Michel Boehm had a pair of scores through the first 15 minutes of play.
Ohio State, however, was able to strike back. A pair from Kyle Lewis and Kyle Borda started the second frame and pulled the Buckeyes within 5-4 while a man-up score from Ed Shean followed by a Colby Smith goal in the final minutes of the first half made it a 7-7 game.
While Ohio State was able to hold Michigan off the board for a significant amount through the middle of the portion of the first half and made it a tie game at the break, Michigan would be able to punch back. The Wolverines outscored the Buckeyes 10-2 in the third quarter alone, which included Michigan putting home each of the last seven scores of the frame.
Four of Michael Boehm’s eight goals came during that third quarter. Michigan’s faceoff duo combined to go 9-for-13 (69%) during that frame.
Ryan Cohen added one early in the fourth quarter and Michael Boehm score the final goal of the game to get Michigan to 19. Ohio State would score five goals in the final frame and made it a four-goal (18-14) game with 1:48 left, but that is as close as they would get to getting back into the game.
Michigan out shot Ohio State 49 to 34 and put 34 of its shots on cage. Ohio State put 20 shots on cage. The Wolverines also won the ground ball battle 47-18 and went 15-for-15 in the clearing game while Ohio State went 18-for-20.
Michigan ends the regular season with a 6-6 record overall and 2-3 record in league play. The Wolverines will host a Big Ten quarterfinal game next week. Ohio State ends the regular season with a 5-8 record overall and a 1-4 mark in Big Ten play.
Penn State Downs Rutgers, Grabs a Share of The Big Ten Title
This time last year, Penn State was coming off a 15-14 overtime loss to Rutgers and on its was to finish with a Big Ten Quarterfinal loss to Johns Hopkins to end the year with a 3-11 (1-4 Big Ten) record.
One year later and the Nittany are sitting at 9-3 overall with a 4-1 record in Big Ten play and have earned a share of the regular-season Big Ten title by virtue of beating Rutgers 14-5 to take back the Friendship Cup.
Penn State came out of the gates firing, taking an early 5-0 lead before Eric Civetti got Rutgers on the board with 28 ticks left in the opening frame. A pair from Jack Aimone and David Sprock pulled Rutgers within 5-3 with 12:08 left in the first half. That is, however, as close as Rutgers would get all night.
Anchored by a 17-save day from Jack Fracyon, Penn State would hold Rutgers off the board for a nearly 15-minute stretch and later a 20-mite stretch of the contest. The Nittany Lions held Rutgers to just two goals in the second half of play.
Jack Posey was matched up on Rutgers’ Ross Scott and held him to just one assist. Posey ended the day with two caused turnovers and one ground ball.
TJ Malone (1G/4A) had five points for Penn State while Kevin Winkoff (3G/1A) and Luke Mercer (2G/2A) each had four points on the night.
Shane Knobloch had one goal and one assist to lead Rutgers.
Rutgers ends the regular season with an 8-5 record overall and a 1-4 mark in Big Ten play.
With a win over Johns Hopkins and a loss to Maryland, Penn State is in play for the No. 1 overall seed in the Big Ten Tournament depending on how tomorrow’s game goes between those aforementioned squads.
OT Win Versus Bucknell Earns Lafayette a Playoff Berth
For the first time since 2010, the Lafayette Leopards have clinched a spot in the Patriot League Tournament.
The Leopards defeated Bucknell 14-13 in overtime on Friday night to earn that spot.
Kalman Kraham put home the game-winner with 2:36 remaining in the overtime period, putting in a backhanded shot from the heart of the defense off a feed from Liam Sargent.
Lafayette jumped out to an 8-3 lead at the half after blanking the Bison in the second frame. However, Bucknell stormed back with a seven-goal fourth quarter to force overtime. Jack Feda had the overtime-forcing goal with 16 seconds left in regulation while Dutch Furlong had made it a one-goal (13-12) contest with 32 seconds remaining.
Bucknell got one more shot off as the buzzer sounded, but Joe Doherty was there for his 13th and final save of the day.
Charlie Cunniffee led the way for Lafayette with eight points off four goals and four assists.
Dutch Furlong had seven points off two goals and five assists for Bucknell.
Lafayette (6-8, 3-3 Patriot League) heads to face Virginia next week. Bucknell (3-9, 2-5 Patriot League) finishes its conference slate next week against Navy at home.
Other Scores
- Denver got up 8-2 at half against Providence and took down the Friars in a 13-6 final score on Friday night. It was the last home game for Bill Tierney as the head coach of the Pioneers. Michael Lampert had four assists and JJ Sillstrop had four goals for the Pioneers.
- Yale topped UAlbany 14-6 to earn its fourth win in a row. Leo Johnson (5G/2A) had seven points on the night whole Chris Lyons (5G/1A) had six.
Lacrosse Bucket 