Scranton Earns First NCAA Tournament Win with Overtime Thriller

• NCAA Division III Bracket

Scranton’s Matthew McAree scored the game-winning goal in overtime to send the Royals into the second round of the NCAA Division III men’s lacrosse tournament. Scranton’s 10-9 overtime victory against John Carroll was one of four first-round games that was tied at some point in the second half.

John Carroll led by as many as three goals in the first half, but Scranton’s Kyle Holmes scored with just a second left in the first half to cut the Blue Streaks advantage to 5-3.

Holmes opened the scoring in the second half and eventually a three-goal run in the quarter gave Scranton’s its first lead since scoring the first goal of the game.

John Carroll went back on top in the fourth quarter, taking its final lead at 9-8 on Billy Paladino’s goal with just 4:01 left in regulation. Scranton’s Kyle Bennett tied the game with 2:10 left and a save by Declan Allen helped send the game to overtime.

Scranton’s John O’Connor won the faceoff to himself to start the overtime and 1:08 into the extra time McAree gave the Royals their first NCAA men’s lacrosse tournament victory in school history.

McAree led Scanton with three goals, O’Connor won 13 of 22 faceoffs and Allen made 11 saves. Paladino had a hat trick for John Caroll and Braden Zarek had a goal and three assists. Blue Streaks’ goalie Jon Gaglio made 14 saves.

Scranton advances to play Dickinson in the second round. The Red Devils won a 12-9 decision over Scranton in February.

In other first round games:

Pfeiffer 13, Centre 12 

Trent Orr scored five goals as Pfeiffer overcame an early 4-0 deficit to beat Centre 13-12. Pfeiffer scored three straight goals to open the fourth quarter to take an 11-9 lead and held off the Colonels in the final frame. Pfeiffer advances to play ODAC champion Lynchburg in the second round on Saturday.

Lake Forest 12, Transylvania 10 

Trip Gaston scored four goals and John Casey had two goals and three assists as Lake Forest started strong and knocked off Transylvania 12-10. Lake Forest led 4-0 after the opening quarter, but Transylvania worked to tie the game 5-5 early in the third quarter. Lake Forest then went on a 6-2 run to pull away with Casey and Gaston each scoring twice during the run. Lake Forest will meet up with Washington and Lee on Saturday.

Illinois Wesleyan 14, Aurora 10 

Illinois Wesleyan used a dominant third quarter to win its 12th straight game, defeating Aurora 14-10. The game was tied 5-5 at the half, but the Titans scored all seven goals in the third quarter to take a commanding lead. Aurora scored the first five goals of the fourth quarter to get back in it, but Illinois Wesleyan scored the final two goals to ice the game. Sam Weinberg had four goals and two assists for the Titans and Michael Rocco won 16 of 22 faceoffs. Illinois Wesleyan will meet Tufts in the second round.

Saint Joseph (Conn.) 13, SUNY Poly 2 

The University of Saint Joseph picked up the first NCAA men’s lacrosse tournament victory in school history with a 13-2 win over SUNY Poly. The Blue Jays scored two goals in the final minute of the first half to take a 5-2 halftime lead and then blanked SUNY Poly in the second half. Trey McCann made 13 saves in the win and Evan Baden (4g) and Christian Decker (3g, 1a) paced the offense. SUNY Poly goalie Joseph VanZandt made 18 saves. Saint Joseph will next play No. 1 ranked and reigning NCAA champion Salisbury.

Saint Mary’s (Md.) 16, Farmingdale 8 

Saint Mary’s scored the first six goals of the game and cruised to a 16-8 victory over Farmingdale. Keegan Preis (3g, 5a), Declan Horton (4g, 2a) and Joshua Martel (4g) paced the Seahawks. St. Mary’s will play RPI in the second round.