BLTF 042919

D-I

Regular season play wrapped up this week, now the stage is set for conference tournaments this coming week, then on to the NCAAs

Congratulations go out to the Cleveland State Vikings for achieving the program’s first winning season in just its third year.

Twelve of the twenty D-I teams we follow have qualified for their conference’s season end tournament. In D-III, four of five were able to extend their seasons.

BEARS vs. BEARS:#15 Johns Hopkins (Joey Epstein) 16#4 Maryland (Justin Shockey, John Geppert) 11

With so much rich history in this rivalry it seems trivial to point out that the near-term consequence of this game was simply which team would get to wear home colors in the rematch to take place this coming week in the semi-finals of the Big Ten tournament. If a game qualifies as a match for pride and bragging rights, any Maryland versus Hopkins matches does. Although the Blue Jays were assured of a spot in the Big Ten tournament when Ohio State lost to Michigan, a loss to Maryland would have sunk the Blue Jay’s record to 6-7, mandating that they win the Big Ten tournament to make the NCAA field. Saturday’s win helps, but does not ensure a slot in the field.

With ten minutes gone in the first period, Maryland led 5-1, then Hopkins rallied. The Blue Jays scored eight of the next nine goals to take a 9-6 lead into the halftime break. Three Hopkins goals in two and a half minutes late in the fourth period squelched any comeback attempt by the Terrapins. Over the course of the game, Johns Hopkins disabled Maryland’s offense, allowing only 21 shots. Even if every Maryland shot on goal had resulted in a score, Hopkins still would have won by three.

Joey Epstein was high-point man for the game with four goals and two assists. His scores came off of nine shots, eight of which were on goal. Justin won eight of fourteen face offs for Maryland and John Geppert also played in the game.

Bucknell (Jarett Witzal, Colin O’Brien, Drew Wellington) 10Colgate (Griffin Brown) 8

Jarret Witzal (3), Griffin Brown (11), Drew Wellington (8), and Colin O’Brien (25)

Bucknell needed this win in order to make the field for the Patriot League tournament. The Bison are the #6 seed, the last team to make it in. Colgate held an early lead, boosted by scoring the first two goals of the game. Bucknell got their first lead early in the second period and until late in the fourth quarter, the scoring pattern was two for the Bison and one for the Raider. With this pattern, Bucknell was able to extend their lead to four goals, 10-6, in the early moments of the fourth quarter. Colgate closed out the scoring for the game with their first successive scores since the start of the game but time ran out before they could get any closer.

Griffin contributed two assists and took six shots, four of which were on goal. For Bucknell, Jarret won 13 of 22 face offs and scooped up a game-high nine ground balls. Drew, in the starting lineup for the eighth time this year, had two ground balls.

Bucknell will face three seed Boston U. in the quarter final round of the Patriot League tournament. Earlier this season, Bucknell lost to BU 13-9 when the Terriers dominated the scoring in the second half of the contest.

TournamentsACC:

4/25/2019 4/27/2019 5/4/2019@ Chapel Hill @ Chapel Hill @ Higher Seed

#1 Virginia 14#4 Syracuse 10 #1 Virginia

#5 North Carolina 13#5 North Carolina 11

#3 Notre Dame 12#3 Notre Dame

#2 Duke 10

#6 Duke (Jack Falk) 10Notre Dame 12

Three weeks ago, Duke downed Notre Dame by six. A change in goalies by the Irish may have been the difference maker. In the first contest, the John Zullo, in his only start, let in 14 of Duke’s 27 shots on goal. In this semi-final, Matt Schmidt saw on more shot, but let only ten get by. That, and Bryan Costabile’s increase in production game over game, were the key factors in Notre Dame’s win.

Jack had one ground ball for Duke.

#5 Virginia (Ryan Pride) 14North Carolina 13

North Carolina came into the ACC tournament likely needing to win it all to get consideration for an at-large slot in the NCAA tournament. On Thursday, they needed a late rally to overtake Syracuse and advance. Against UVA, things looked more secure for the Tar Heels. After Virginia jumped out to a 6-3 lead after one quarter, Carolina shut down UVA’s potent offense, keeping the ‘Hoos off the scoreboard for just over twenty-six minutes. Early in the fourth quarter North Carolina went up by four and things continued to look good for the Heels. Virginia then turned the tide, scoring four unanswered goals to tie the game up at 12-all with just over five minutes left. The Heels arrested that comeback attempt with a single goal to get the lead back, but UVA closed out the scoring with a pair of goals to get the come-from-behind win.

This year UVA has gone 5-1 in one goal games, three of which were overtime contests. In those close games, UVA has outscored opponents 24-16 in the fourth quarter.

UVA hosts Notre Dame on Saturday for the ACC tournament championship. This will be a rematch of last year’s ACC title game which Notre Dame won 17-7. With just five teams in the ACC, the conference is not entitled to an automatic qualifier slot for the NCAA tournament. Any team from the ACC which makes the NCAA tournament will do so via an at-large bid.

Other Games#18 Army (Drennan Greene) 19NJIT 6

Having completed their Patriot League schedule a week ago, Army closed out their regular season with a game against an independent, New Jersey Institute of the Technology. The goalies for both teams saved 13 shots for their squad, but the NJIT goalies saw 13 more shots come at him than did Army’s keepers.

Drennan took 2 shots for the Black Knights.

Next, Army, the #4 seed in the Patriot League tournament, hosts #5 Holy Cross. Earlier in the season, Army had to rally in the fourth quarter to beat Holy Cross 7-6.

Cleveland State (Justin Conner) 11Detroit Mercy 9

In their third season of D-I men’s lacrosse, the Cleveland State Vikings have posted their first winning season. Wednesday’s win over Detroit Mercy in their season finale raises the Vikings’ record to 8-7. Just two years ago, Cleveland State got their first D-I win, coincidentally also against Detroit Mercy.

Early in the third quarter, Cleveland State seemed to have things well in hand, up 9-3. Detroit Mercy fought their way back into the contest by scoring four goals in just over five minutes. The Vikings mitigated the damage with a pair of goals, but the Titans pulled back within two with a pair of their own. At that point there were almost six minutes left in the game. Across the balance of regulation, Cleveland State employed the strategy of “if they don’t have the ball they can’t score.” Detroit Mercy suffered two failed clears over the closing moments of the game but did have one brief possession which lasted all of 30 seconds and resulted in one shot wide of the goal and with possession going back to the Vikings.

#8 Cornell (Colton Rupp) 14Princeton 13Coming into this game, Princeton, Cornell and Brown were still in the running for the last two seeds in the Ivy League tournament. Princeton needed Brown to lose to Dartmouth, which did not happen, so they needed to beat Cornell by at least three goals to extend their season.

With six minutes to go in the game, this looked like a possibility. A Princeton run of three goals, two of which were scored in the last minute of the second period, closed out the first half and sent the teams to the locker room tied at 6. Late in the third period, Princeton was able to build a two-goal lead, giving them hope for playing longer this year. Cornell responded and retook the lead with less than two minutes remaining only to see the Tigers forge yet another tie. It looked like the game was destined for overtime until Cornell got the game winner with just four seconds left in regulation.

Colton took two shots for Cornell

Cornell is the #3 seed in the Ivy League tournament and will face defending NCAA champs Yale in the semi-finals on Friday.

Dartmouth (Landon McKenzie) 7Brown 11

Dartmouth led early in this game, benefitting from 3-0 advantage in the second period. Their two-goal halftime lead held up well into the third period when Brown retook the lead by scoring four consecutive

goals. After what turned out to be Dartmouth’s last goal of the game, and the season, the Bears closed out the scoring with three straight scores.

Landon played in this, his final game for Dartmouth.

Fairfield (Alex Hagerup) 9Hofstra 11

On a dark and stormy night in Fairfield, the Stags closed out their 2019 season. Down two at the half, Fairfield scored the first four goals of the second half to take a two-goal lead. Hofstra responded with a run of three scores, retaking the lead early in the fourth period. A pair of goals by the Stags got the lead back for Fairfield, but Hofstra did all the scoring down the stretch to secure a win.

Furman (Michael Abizaid) 20VMI 6

Furman closed out their 2019 season with an exclamation point, hitting the 20 goal mark for the second time this season. The Paladins raced out to an 8-2 advantage in the first period and then closed out the game scoring nine unanswered goals over the game’s final 18 minutes.

Michael won 5 of his faceoffs and covered three ground balls.

Hobart (Koko Avedisian) 15 OTRobert Morris 16

After a closely contested first half, this game gave way to lead swaps driven by multiple-goal runs by both teams. Hobart had leads of three and four goals in the second half only to see Robert Morris mount a comeback in each case. Fittingly, regulation ended in a tie. Robert Morris had a distinct advantage in overtime starting the extra period with possession as a Hobart defender was kneeling in the penalty box serving the remainder of a slashing penalty. The Statesmen scored the game winner 40 seconds into overtime on their first shot.

Koko had one shot and one ground ball for Hobart

The loss knocked Hobart out of the running for the #1 seed in the NEC tournament. They secured the #2 seed, however, and will play Sacred Heart on Thursday in a conference semi-final match. Earlier this season, Hobart downed Sacred Heart 10-9.

Jacksonville (Hunter Sells, Andrew Mitchell) 20Mercer 12

Jacksonville had a series of mini-runs throughout the game, series of two, three, or four, and Mercer could respond with just single scores. The Dolphins tested the Mercer goal relentlessly, put over 75% o their shots on goal. Jacksonville’s defense was another key to the game as they had to stem the effect of Mercer’s dominance of face offs and ground balls.

Hunter had seven saves for Jacksonville as well as four ground balls and two caused turnovers and Andrew started on defense.

Jacksonville’s tough early season schedule prepared them well for league play. Losses to top-ranked teams Duke, Towson, and Penn State toughened them for a challenging, top heavy, Southern Conference schedule. Based on a solid 5-2 record in conference play, Jacksonville is the #4 seed in the SoCon tournament. Jacksonville will face #1 seed High Point in a semi-final contest this coming week. Jacksonville handed High Point their only SoCon loss earlier this season.

#7 Loyola (Cam James) 15Lafayette 4

Loyola allowed one goal per quarter to Lafayette, one in the middle of each of the game’s four quarters. Around those single scores, the Greyhounds put together runs of three, four and seven goals to coast to an easy win.

Once again, Loyola is the top-seed in the Patriot league tournament and the recipient of a bye in the first round. On Friday, the will play the lowest seeded team coming out of the League’s first round games.

Cam played in this final regular season game.

Michigan (Zach Johnson) 13#16 Ohio State 10

Michigan picked up their first Big Ten win of the season and their first win all time against Ohio State, dealing a likely death blow to the Buckeyes post-season hopes. Michigan never trailed in the game, but Ohio State challenged throughout. The Buckeyes took 50% more shots than the Wolverines (42-28), but Michigan was more precise as both teams put 19 shots on goal. Michigan had to overcome Ohio State’s overwhelming advantages on face offs (24-2) and ground balls (43-21).

Zach saw playing time in this season ender.

Navy (Thomas Evans, Shane Corcoran) 13Boston U. 12

Despite missing the Patriot League tournament, the Midshipmen finished their 2019 season on a high note, downing the Boston University Terriers. After a strong third quarter performance in which Navy

outscored BU 7-1, the Middies had to withstand a late (very late) game comeback by BU. The Terriers scored three goals in the final two minutes of the game, the last which pulled them within one of Navy came with 32 seconds left in the game. Navy was down a man for that last face off which BU won, but the Terriers turned the ball over before they could challenge to tie the game.

Thomas has started on defense for Navy since the second game of the season.

#1 Penn State (Nate Buller) 14#20 Rutgers 13

The Scarlet Knights pushed Penn State to the limit, but the Nittany Lions took the lead for the final time on two late goals, the game winner coming with 40 seconds left in regulation. Still, Rutgers had one last gasp with their final possession but could not put the ball on the cage.

Penn State finished the regular season as the top-ranked team in D-I lacrosse and the #1 seed in the Big Ten tournament where they will again face Rutgers.

St. Joseph’s (Thomas Halm) 6Mount St. Mary’s 7

St. Joe’s pulled within one of league-leader Mount St. Mary’s with a few ticks over nine minutes left in the game. That was as close as they would get as the Mount’s goalie saved each of the six shots that the Hawks put on goal in that final push. The loss ends St. Joseph’s 2019 season.

#12 Towson (Mo Sillah) 11Drexel 9

Towson had to rally late to get the win and lock up the #2 seed in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament. After Drexel went up by one with 7:48 left in the game, the Tigers got quick revenge scoring off of the face off five seconds later. Towson followed that tying goal up with a pair of scores then held off Drexel over the last two minutes to ensure the win.

Mo had one ground ball and a game high three caused turnovers in addition to two turns at the face off dot.

This Coming Week: Tournament Time

4/30/2019 5/3/2019 5/5/2019@ Higher Seed

#1 Loyola#4 Army

#5 Holy Cross@ Baltimore, MD

#3 Boston U.

#6 Bucknell#2 Lehigh

RESEEDED

5/3/2019 5/5/2019#1 Penn

#4 Brown

@ New York, NY

#3 Cornell

#2 Yale

5/2/2019 5/4/2019#1 Penn State

#4 Rutgers

@ Piscataway, NJ

#3 Maryland

#2 Johns Hopkins

5/2/2019 5/4/2019#1 U Mass

#4 Drexel

@ Amherst, MA

#3 Delaware

#2 Towson

5/2/2019 5/4/2019#1 Mount St. Mary's

#4 Robert Morris

@ Higher Seed

#3 Sacred Heart

#2 Hobart

5/2/2019 5/4/2019#1 High Point

#4 Jacksonville

@ High Point, NC

#3 Richmond

#2 Air Force

Polls:

4/29/2019USILA

CoachesNike/ US Lacrosse

Inside Lacrosse

Quints Top 20

Penn State 1 1 1 1Yale 2 2 2 2Penn 3 3 3 5Maryland 4 7 5 7Virginia 5 6 4 3Duke 6 5 7 6Loyola 7 4 6 8Cornell 8 8 9 10Notre Dame 9 9 8 4Syracuse 10 10 10 9Denver 11 11 14 13Towson 12 14 12 12High Point 13 16 11 15U Mass 14 13 13 11Johns Hopkins 15 15 16 14Ohio State 16 12 15 20Georgetown 17 17 17 16Army 18 18 19 NRNorth Carolina 19 19 18 17Rutgers 20 NR NR NRBoston U. NR 20 NR NRVillanova NR NR 20 19Air Force NR NR NR 18

Crowd-sourcing an NCAA bracket out of these polls at the end of the regular season produces the following field (nine conference tournament champions and eight at-large berths):Seeds:1. Penn State (Big Ten AQ)2. Yale (Ivy AQ)3. Penn (at large)4. Virginia (at large)5. Maryland (at large)6. Duke (at large)7. Loyola (Patriot)8. Notre Dame (at large)Plus:Cornell (at large)Syracuse (at large)Denver (Big East)Towson (CAA)UMass (at large)High Point (SoCon)America East AQMAAC AQNEC AQ (Go Hobart!)At Large Bubble Out:Johns HopkinsOhio StateGeorgetownArmy North Carolina

D-III

Tournaments

NESCAC

4/27/2019 5/4/2019 5/5/2019@ Higher Seed @ Highest Seed @ Highest Seed

#1 Tufts 17#1 Tufts

#8 Trinity 8#4 Amherst 23

#7 Middlebury#5 Bates 9

#3 Williams 12#3 Williams

#6 Colby 9#7 Middlebury 11

#4 Amherst#2 Wesleyan 7

RESEEDED

#3 Tufts (Luke Kurtz, Kyle Amitay) 17Trinity (Spud Dunn) 8

The NESCAC kicked off its 2019 conference tournament with a Bears vs. Bears match. Tufts and Trinity met earlier in the season with the Jumbos defeating the Bantams 25-12. This game was much closer, but with the same outcome. Trinity led briefly early in the first quarter, but Tufts’ four straight scores to close out the quarter gave them a lead they would continue to build on. The Jumbos goalies were the deciding force in this quarter final contest, saving 18 of the Bantam’s 26 shots on goal.

Luke had one assist for Tufts and Spud took one shot for Trinity.

This was Spud’s last game for Tufts. This season he appeared in 13 games, starting once. He scored three goals this year bring his total at Tufts to eight goals, two assists, ten ground balls and three caused turnovers.

Tufts marches on, facing Middlebury, who upset the reigning D-III NCAA champs Wesleyan.

Capital Athletic Conference4/27/2019 5/1/2019 5/4/2019

#1 York#5 Frostburg 12

#5 Frostburg#4 St. Mary's 10

@ Higher Seed#3 Christopher Newport 20

#3 Christopher Newport#6 Mary Washington 6

#7 Southern Virginia 9#2 Salisbury

#2 Salisbury 27

#3 Salisbury (Brian Menendez, Jace Menendez) 27Southern Virginia 9

Salisbury put up a near perfect repeat of their 26-9 win over Southern Virginia form a week ago. The Seagulls went one better this time, winning 27-9. Largely on the strength of a 7-2 edge in the first quarter, the Seagulls maintained a modest lead throughout the first three quarters of the game. In the game’s final frame, Salisbury put up twelve goals to none for Southern Virginia. In that fourth quarter scoring spree, Salisbury took more shots in the quarter (28) than Knights did for the entire game (27). “Fortunately” for Southern Virginia, the Gulls put just under half of their fourth quarter shots on goal because their goalie recorded just one fourth quarter save.

Both Brian and Jace played with Jace taking one shot.

Next up for Salisbury is Christopher Newport, a team they beat 18-4 in regular season play.

Landmark Conference5/1/2019 5/4/2019

Elizabethtown #1

#4 Catholic

@ Higher Seed

#3 Susquehanna

#4 Scranton

A month ago, Catholic downed Elizabethtown 11-6. In all three of the games that Catholic played against the other Landmark teams in the tournament, the winning team scored 11 goals.

Other Games#3 Salisbury (Brian Menendez, Jace Menendez) 18St. Mary’s 6

The Seagulls closed out their 2019 regular season schedule against cross-bay rival St. Mary’s. Salisbury dominated the key possession related statistics and outshot St. Mary’s nearly 2:1. Across the first three quarters, Salisbury’s runs of four to six goals were interrupted occasionally by single scores for St. Mary’s. It wasn’t until midway through the final period that Salisbury allowed back-to-back goals.

Brian and Jace each hand one ground ball.

Trinity (Spud Dunn) 7

#5 Amherst 21

Amherst raced out to an early lead, scoring what proved to be the game winning goal with thirteen minutes left in the second quarter, then the Mammoths closed out the contest with seven straight scores. Trinity’s goalie was under constant attack, facing 56 shots, 46 of which were on goal. But for his 25 saves, the final outcome would have been truly stunning.

Spud put one shot on goal for Trinity.

#4 Tufts (Luke Kurtz, Kyle Amitay) 13Bowdoin 7

Face offs, turnovers, and clearing success were pretty even in this game, but the Jumbos got the win on the strength of their dramatically greater shooting volume. All in, Tufts took 66 shots in the game and had by the end of the first half already taken more shots that Bowdoin would for the whole game. These weren’t wasted shots, either, as Tufts put 58% of their shots on goal. Tufts had more shots on goal (38) than Bowdoin had shots (35). Bowdoin’s goalie made an astounding 25 saves on the day to keep the score as close as it was.

Luke played in the game.

Washington College (Will Oliver) 12Swarthmore 7

Twenty saved and just seven allowed—the Shoremen’s goalie was the difference maker in this game, otherwise the teams were pretty evenly matched.

Washington College was tied with Dickinson for the fourth and final seed in the Centennial Athletic Conference tournament going into the weekend. The Shoremen needed to beat Gettysburg (tied for first in the conference at that time) on Saturday and have Dickinson lose to third place Ursinus if they were to make the tournament. These things did not happen.

Washington College (Will Oliver) 13#8 Gettysburg 15

Gettysburg, one of the top teams in the Centennial Conference, opened up a five-goal lead late in the second period, but the Shoremen got the last score before halftime then pitched a 3-0 shutout in the third period to get within a single goal heading into the final period. The Bullets controlled the game in the final period, wrapping two pairs of goals around a single man-up score for Washington.

The loss ends the Shoremen’s season as they finished fifth in the Centennial Conference with a 4-4 record in conference play.

USILA Coaches’ Poll:#3 Salisbury#4 Tufts (2 first place votes)

Inside Lacrosse Media Poll:#3 Salisbury (1 first place vote)#4 Tufts

Nike/US Lacrosse Poll:#3 Salisbury#4 Tufts