Upsets Continue in Division I Men’s Lacrosse Conference Semifinals

A day after chaos erupted with four No. 1 conference tournament seeds falling, the upsets kept coming on Friday. Fifth-seeded Loyola rallied from an 8-1 early deficit to knock off top-seeded Boston University 12-11 in the Patriot League and then fourth-seeded Yale exploded for a 22-15 victory over the Ivy League's top seed, Cornell. In the final game of the night, Princeton kept its NCAA tournament hopes alive with a 9-8 victory over Penn.

Recaps of Friday's conference tournament games appear below.

For a look at Thursday’s results, check out the recap here. Be sure to check USA Lacrosse Magazine’s Division I Championship Central and TV Listings for skimmable guide’s to this weekend’s action, and check back here and our social channels this weekend for up-to-date bracketology projections, Selection Sunday news, celebrations and more.

ASUN CONFERENCE

(1) Utah 17, (5) Bellarmine 14

Utah is moving on to the conference championship game for the second year in a row, though the 17-14 win over Bellarmine on Friday did not come easy. There were 10 ties and six lead changes, but Cole Brams put Utah ahead for good with 6:49 remaining. Utah outshot Bellarmine 54-33.

Tyler Bradbury, Koa Todd and Ryan Stines all recorded hat tricks for the Utes.

Bellarmine took an 11-10 lead with 11:55 left before Carson Moyer tied the score at 11 less than a minute later. Leads and ties were traded back and forth for the next several minutes, as Bradbury and Todd each tied the score before Brams buried the winner.

(2) Air Force 12, (6) Robert Morris 4

Hat tricks from Luke Vrsansky and Ethan Grandolfo, plus two goals and two assists from Brandon Dodd were plenty to lead Air Force to a 12-4 win over Robert Morris, setting up a date with Utah for the ASUN title.

Utah topped Air Force 18-11 on March 29, and the Utes enter the rematch on a 10-game winning streak. Air Force suffered just one more loss after that misstep, a one-goal loss to Bellarmine.

ASUN Championship — (1) Utah v. (2) Air Force, Sunday, May 7, 1 p.m. (ESPN+)

IVY LEAGUE

(4) Yale 22, (1) Cornell 15

Dominant play at the faceoff dot helped Yale's offense control the tempo in a 22-15 victory over Cornell, avenging a 20-10 loss to the Big Red earlier this season. Yale won 28 of 41 faceoffs in the game, led by a 23 of 33 effort from Nicholas Ramsey. More importantly, Yale strung together runs off its faceoffs, scoring four goals in 58 seconds in the second quarter and three goals in 13 seconds in the third quarter.

Chris Lyons had a monster day with 11 points on seven goals and four assists and Leo Johnson added six goals as the Bulldogs scored a season-high 22 goals. After beginnning its Ivy League schedule with an 0-3 record, Yale has now won six straight games overall to improve to 9-4. Jared Paquette made 19 saves, his 18th straight game making double-digit saves dating back to last season.

Cornell, which had not allowed more than 13 goals in any game this season, fell to 11-3. C.J. Kirst led the Big Red with five goals and Rory Graham scored three.

(3) Princeton 9, (2) Penn 8

Needing a victory to keep its NCAA tournament hopes alive, Princeton pulled out a hard-fought 9-8 victory over Penn to advance to the Ivy League championship game.

Princeton goalie Michael Gianforcaro and Penn goalie Emmet Carroll put on a show for most of night before the offenses finally got on track in the fourth quarter. Gianforcro made 15 saves to earn the victory and Carroll made 16 saves in a losing effort.

Princeton led 4-3 at the half, but neither team could solve the goalies in the third quarter. Gianforcaro and Carroll combined for 12 saves in the quarter and neither team scored until Penn's Tynan Walsh scored with three seconds left to tie it 4-4 entering the fourth.

After Penn scored back-to-back goals to take a 6-5 lead on Ben Smith's goal with 11 minutes left, Princeton scored three straight goals. Penn's Sam Handley, who moved from midfield to attack in the fourth quarter, scored for Penn to cut the lead back to 8-7 with 4:02 left.

Princeton's Christian Ronda, who had a team-high three goals, stretched the back to two goals with 3:01 left. Smtih scored on a break for Penn with just 13 seconds left, but Princeton won the ensuing faceoff to secure the victory.

Princeton, which won the inaugural Ivy League tournament in 2010 but hasn't won it since, will meet Yale in the championship game. The Tigers, who beat Yale 23-10 earlier this year, will likely need to win to earn an NCAA tournament bid.

Penn is now 7-6 and with some strong metrics will hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

Ivy Championship – (4) Yale v. (3) Princeton, Sunday, May 7, 12 p.m. (ESPNU)

PATRIOT LEAGUE

(5) Loyola 12, (1) Boston U 11

Loyola scored the final two goals inside the last four minutes to oust top-seeded Boston U in the Patriot League semifinals. Adam Poitras scored both goals, with Seth Higgins assisting the winner with 2:38 left in regulation.

Boston U appeared to be cruising in the second quarter after Timmy Ley made it 9-3 with 3:57 left before halftime. Davis Lindsey scored about a minute later, igniting a run that extended through halftime that put Loyola up 10-9. Higgins scored with one second left before the end of the period of the lead.

The Terriers did not go away, as Louis Perfetto tied it at 10 before Vince D'Alto put them ahead. The sides were scoreless for five minutes before Poitras played hero.

(2) Army 19, (3) Lehigh 13

Army never trailed and pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Lehigh 19-13 to advance to the Patriot League championship game.

Army scored the last three goals of the first half to take a 12-6 halftime lead, but Lehigh blanked the Black Knights in the third quarter to get back into the game. Lehigh scored three times in the third quarter, two of them by Justin Tiernan, to cut Army's lead to 12-9 entering the final quarter.

Paul Johnson scored back-to-back goals for Army to open the fourth quarter to flip the momentum back to the Black Knights and Army scored the final three goals of the game to seal the victory.

Johnson had six goals to lead all scorers and Army also got hat tricks from Jacob Morin and Evan Plunkett. Knox Dent made 14 saves for Army and Will Coletti won 19 of 34 faceoffs in a big showdown against Lehigh All-American Michael Sisselberger.

Tiernan led Lehigh with five goals and Christian Mule had three assists. 

Patriot Championship – (5) Loyola v. (2) Army, Sunday, May 7, 12 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)