It was a Sunday full of nail-biters in Division I men’s lacrosse, with four games decided by one goal, one decided by two goals and another decided by three.
With Syracuse-Johns Hopkins not yet final, here’s how the rest of the day went down.
ANOTHER PENN WALK-OFF GOAL
Just a few weeks after downing Duke essentially at the horn, Penn did it again. On February 26, it was Jack Schultz. On Sunday, Dylan Gergar scored with 0.5 seconds left after Tyler Kuehl ran the full length of the field in transition, giving Penn an 8-7 win over Villanova.
GERGAR AT THE BUZZER
— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) March 13, 2022
Gergar scores for @PennMensLax with .5 seconds left to down @NovaLacrosse.
THIS. IS. MARCH. pic.twitter.com/8Dvlg0JwSV
Gergar and Handley each scored twice for No. 7 Penn (3-1), which captured the Farrell Cup against its Philadelphia rival.
Penn led 6-4 at halftime of a seesaw contest. Patrick Daly, Matt Campbell and J.P. Basile each scored in a 3-0 run for the Wildcats, giving them the lead with 6:54 left.
With the offense struggling to find the back of the net, Penn’s comeback didn’t begin until late. James Shipley tied it at 7 with 1:18 remaining, then Gergar’s goal came with mere milliseconds to go.
MASSIVE WIN FOR LOYOLA
The significance of Loyola’s 12-10 win over No. 11 Duke can’t be overstated. Scuffling at 1-4 entering play, the Greyhounds needed a win that could boost their at-large profile.
Kevin Lindley scored six times to make sure it would happen. Loyola led 10-2 at the half and held Duke to just 10 shots in the first 30 minutes, then withstood a furious second-half comeback from the Blue Devils.
Duke (7-3) scored the game’s final seven goals and was knocking on the door of a dramatic comeback. Down 12-8 with 2:29 left, Duke could have acted quickly to close the gap further. But the Blue Devils didn’t score again until there were 59 seconds left (Joe Robertson), and then Brennan O’Neill scored with 32 seconds to go for the final margin.
YALE LEADS WIRE TO WIRE
No. 10 Yale never trailed in a 16-13 win over No. 17 Denver, but the Pios never went down by more than four goals in the contest.
Ted Sullivan put Denver (3-4) down 14-12 with 4:14 left, but the Yale (3-1) defense buckled down. It held Denver off the board until there were just 27 seconds left, giving its offense the opportunity to tack on some insurance.
Matt Brandau had five goals and three assist, and Leo Johnson had a hat trick. Yale overcame an 11-for-31 showing on faceoffs, as Alec Stathakis went 20-for-30 for the Pios.
NOTABLE
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Touted lacrosse recruit Xavier Arline — also a Navy quarterback — scored his first career goal as Navy scored five fourth-quarter goals to down Colgate 11-10 in Annapolis. Patrick Skalniak had five goals and one assist and scored the tying goal. With the score tied at 9, Dane Dawson scored twice, both on the EMO, to put Navy (4-3) up 11-9.
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No. 16 Johns Hopkins got the better of No. 20 Syracuse 10-7 in the return of former Blue Jays head coach Dave Pietramala to Homewood Field. Johns Hopkins (4-3) got three goals from Johnathan Peshko and led for essentially the entire second half. More from Homewood Field coming later this evening.
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St. Bonaventure improved to 5-2 by scoring the final three goals of an 11-10 win over Cleveland State. Down 10-8 with 10:29 left, the Bonnies got consecutive goals from Austin Blumbergs that tied the score. With 1:57 left, Jake Rosa fed Jackson Rose for the winning score.
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In the only blowout of the day, Lehigh rolled past Holy Cross 17-7 behind five goals from Christian Mulé. Mike Sisselberger won 20 of 26 faceoffs.
HOW THE NIKE/USAL TOP 20 FARED
No. 7 Penn defeated Villanova 8-7
No. 10 Yale defeated No. 17 Denver 16-13
Loyola defeated No. 11 Duke 12-10
No. 16 Johns Hopkins defeated No. 20 Syracuse 10-7
FULL SCOREBOARD
No. 16 Johns Hopkins 10, No. 20 Syracuse 7
Lehigh 17, Holy Cross 7
Loyola 12, No. 11 Duke 10
Navy 11, Colgate 10
No. 7 Penn 8, Villanova 7
St. Bonaventure 11, Cleveland State 10
No. 10 Yale 16, No. 17 Denver 13