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No. 8 Army entered the 101st meeting with No. 16 Navy with the fourth-ranked scoring defense in the country, but it was the Midshipmen’s prowess on that side of the field that proved the difference in a 9-4 upset win. 

Navy (5-2, 3-2 Patriot League) never trailed and held Army (6-3, 4-2 PL) leading scorer Brendan Nichtern scoreless. The Black Knights had surpassed double digits in all but one game —a season-opening 14-9 away loss to Virginia--entering today. 

“Overrated!” chants echoed around Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. 

It was the first time in two years that the sixth-longest played rivalry in college lacrosse was contested after last year’s matchup was canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The win is Navy’s second consecutive victory against a Top 20 team, a week after dispatching Loyola 14-12. 

On Senior Day, it was fitting that several firsties led the way for Navy. Nick Franchuk neutralized Nichtern. Spencer Rees was a revelation with 19 saves (.826 sv. percentage), including six in the fourth quarter. Second-line midfielder Joe DeLyra had a hat trick. He entered the game with six career goals. 

“I think no matter what we’ve done up until this point, this game is special and I think these seniors wanted to go out on a good note against these guys,” DeLyra said after the game on the CBS Sports Network broadcast when asked if the Patriot League’s decision to add a quarterfinal round boost the team’s morale. 

DeLyra opened the game’s scoring midway through the first quarter in what turned into a defensive battle. The Midshipmen defense entering the contest allowing an average of 10 goals per game, gave up only a single goal in the first half. DeLyra scored his final goal of the afternoon with 5:10 to play in the fourth quarter and triggered a three-goal run that Navy used to seal the win. 

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who was on hand to receive the key to the city of Annapolis at halftime, spoke to the Midshipmen before the game. 

“That was so awesome,” DeLyra said. “I was honestly just shocked how well he knew the game of lacrosse. I thought he was going to give us like a crazy pump-up speech, but he [said] just go out there and play a clean game, make sure you guys sub well, pick up ground balls and you can’t win the game in the penalty box. I had a big laugh on my face as I was listening to that.” 

Navy won the groundball battle 38-27. Aidan Byrnes scored a pair of goals to lead the Black Knights. 

Both teams close out their regular seasons next Saturday. Army will look to bounce back at home against Colgate. Navy’s previously scheduled contest on May 1 against UVA was canceled, so the Midshipmen will look to keep its winning streak going at Lafayette. 

Syracuse Gets the Sweep of Virginia

After a week of questions surrounding Syracuse and an indefinite suspension of its leading scorer, the No. 11 ranked Orange (6-4, 2-3 ACC) rallied to take down No. 4 Virginia 13-11. 

“Call off the funeral,” Syracuse men’s lacrosse Twitter account captioned a graphic of the final score and Owen Seebold mid fist pump. “The Orange ain’t dead.” 

With the win, Syracuse secured its first ACC victory since Feb 27. The opponent in that game? The Cavaliers. 

While that contest, which Syracuse ran away with 20-10 in the Carrier Dome, ignited a four-game winning streak for the Orange, the team trended in the other direction more recently. Syracuse dropped three of its last four games and last weekend was blown out 21-9 by North Carolina. 

But if the ACC has taught us anything this spring, it’s that predictions are best not uttered aloud. 

Syracuse outshot Virginia 54-30 and Jakob Phaup won 24-of-27 faceoffs. Nine of the Orange’s goals were assisted. Virginia face-off specialist Petey LaSalla, one of the Cavaliers’ three Tewaaraton Award candidates, had an uncharacteristic outing--going 1-of-16. He entered the game ranked sixth in the nation with a 66.9 win percentage. 

Syracuse freshman Owen Hiltz, who moved from attack to midfield, led the team with three goals and two assists. Fifth-year senior Jamie Trimboli also scored three goals and added an assist. Seebold had two goals and two assists. The junior from Dallas spent most of this season on the second line midfield, but was inserted into the starting attack after leading scorer Chase Scanlan was suspended indefinitely. 

After Virginia’s Peter Garno (1 goal, 1 assist) buried a bounce shot off an assist from Xander Dickson (3G, 1A) to cut Syracuse’s lead to 9-8 with 5:41 to play in the third quarter, Seebold answered with his tenth goal of the season. The Orange followed with three consecutive goals from Hiltz, senior midfielder Brendan Curry (1G, 1A) and Trimboli.  

Virginia closed the game on a three-goal run. 

The Rivalry Delivers and So Do Maryland's Stars

 “The Rivalry” did not disappoint. 

Johns Hopkins pushed No. 1 Maryland further than any Big 10 team has this season, but the Terrapins prevailed in their most exciting game of 2021 with three goals in the final two minutes. 

The last minute 14-13 win gave Maryland (10-0) its first undefeated regular season since 1987. 

The Terrapins prolific attack duo — Tewaaraton Award candidates and roommates Jared Bernhardt and Logan Wisnauskas — each scored five points on four goals and one assist. 

Bernhardt assisted Wisnauskas, who poured in a left handed rip from the right wing with 18 seconds to play, for the game winner. 

Hopkins led 13-11 with 5:04 to play after Johnatha Peshko scored on an extra man opportunity off an assist from Cole Williams. The goal capped a 3-0 Blue Jays run. 

Then Wisnauskas and Bernhardt took over. Wisnauskas scored on a diving goal with 1:48 remaining and only one second left on the shot clock off a feed from Kyle Long. 

Bernhardt followed 12 seconds later to tie the game with a blitzing dodge and on the run shot through the middle of Hopkins’ defense. He got the ball again after a face-off win and timeout and scanned the field from X, before launching a cross crease pass to his roommate who then iced the instant classic.

Though the loss plunged Hopkins to 2-8, it was by far the team’s most complete performance in Peter Milliman’s first season at the helm. The Blue Jays previously fell to the Terrapins 18-10 on March 6, despite leading 7-5 late in the first half. 

This time, they seemed on the precipice of the upset of the year. 

Connor DeSimmone (3 goals, 1 assist) and Joey Epstein (1G, 3A) each registered four points in the loss. Junior midfielder Garret Degnon had a hat trick. 

Penn State Sweeps Ohio State In Thrilling Fashion 

Everyone at Ohio State Stadium knew the ball was going to Mac O’Keefe after Jeff Tambroni took a timeout trailing 9-8 with one minute and 22 seconds to play. Penn State did too. 

So when three Ohio State defenders rushed out to the NCAA career goals record holder, O’Keefe was prepared. He did something he’s a lot less heralded for. He passed. He faked his iconic low wind up, then dished the ball to Dylan Foulds who caught the open pass on the crease and finished with a twister shot. 

Foulds dodged towards middle on the next possession and scored his fourth goal of the game with 22 seconds remaining to give Penn State its first lead since five minutes into the second quarter. Aleric Fyock, starting his first collegiate game, made a last second save to preserve the win and cap another crazy ending for the Nittany Lions (4-6). The victory gives Penn State the third seed in the Big 10 Tournament and another home game at Panzer Stadium. 

“We could have easily packed up home not really given an effort in these last few games and just let it all fade away,” O’Keefe said earlier this week. “But I think nobody really gave in, so we’re going to go down swinging and we’re going to make it a one hell of a story.” 

A sixth-year graduate student who has 93 career goals, Foulds transitioned from attack to midfield, a position he played throughout high school in British Columbia, before the Michigan game. In that 14-13 overtime win, he consistently drew slides dodging from up top, tallied three assists, and scored on a similar shot to his game tying goal this weekend. 

Foulds scored his first goal against Ohio State (4-6) on a buzzer beater before halftime that tied the game at 4. After the break, the sides traded two goal runs before Jack Myers put the Buckeyes ahead 7-6 off a feed from Jackson Reid with 3:22 to play in the third quarter. 

Myers scored his fourth goal of the game and 31st of the season on a top side dodge to give the Buckeyes a 9-8 lead with 4:02 to play. 

Fyock, who started the second half last week in replacement of fifth-year senior Colby Kneese last week, made 15 saves (.625 sv. percentage) against Ohio State. O’Keefe extended his goals record to 219 with a pair of tallies. 

NIKE/US LACROSSE TOP 20

No. 1 Maryland 14, Johns Hopkins 13
No. 7 Lehigh 18, Bucknell 12
No. 11 Syracuse 13, No. 4 Virginia 11
No. 16 Navy 9, No. 8 Army 4 
No. 9 Denver 19, St. John’s 11
No. 13 Delaware 16 , Towson 8
No. 14 Drexel 12, No. 17 Hofstra 8 
No. 18 UMBC 14, NO. 12 Stony Brook 13 (OT)
Binghamton 10, No. 19 Vermont 7

OTHER SCORES

Albany 18, NJIT 8
Bryant 20, Sacred Heart 12
High Point 13, Air Force 8 
Hobart 14, Merrimack 10
Jacksonville 8, Bellarmine 7 
St. Bonaventure 11, Siena 6
UMass 21, Fairfield 14
Utah 11, Cleveland State 9
Villanova 19, Marquette 8