Penn goalie Reed Junkin may have had the best performance we'll see from any men's lacrosse player in May, but in the end, Tewaaraton candidate Ben Reeves and Yale were too much to overcome.
Junkin made five sprawling stops to force quadruple overtime before Reeves, who tied the game late in regulation, fed Joseph Sessa for the game-winning goal in the 74th minute, as the top-seeded Bulldogs advanced to the Ivy League championship game with a 13-12 victory over the fourth-seeded Quakers Friday night in New Haven, Conn. Reeves finished with three goals and three assists for the Bulldogs, who are ranked No. 16 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men's Top 20.
Yale will face third-seeded Brown, which upset second-seeded Princeton 17-15 in the other semifinal Friday, in the conference championship game Sunday. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
The No. 20-ranked Bears trailed 12-11 in the fourth quarter before exploding for seven unanswered goals spanning 8 minutes, 35 seconds. The No. 17 Tigers made it interesting with a three-goal spurt in 48 seconds, but they ran out of time.
Reigning Tewaaraton winner Dylan Molloy led Brown with six points on four goals and two assists. Midfielder Stephen Hudak scored two of his game-high five goals during the Bears' defining fourth-quarter surge.
Sunday's final (12 p.m. on ESPNU) will pit Reeves and Molloy on opposite sides of a Tewaaraton showdown. Reeves (five goals, five assists) outdueled Molloy (three goals, one assist) when the two teams met earlier this season, an 18-12 Yale victory. The Bulldogs are seeking their fifth Ivy League tournament title in six years.
Monmouth, Marist Advance to MAAC Final
Monmouth is on the precipice of the NCAA tournament in just its fourth season.
The top-seeded Hawks won their 10th straight game Friday, the longest current winning streak in Division I, defeating fourth-seeded Detroit Mercy in the MAAC semifinals at Siena.
Eamon Campbell scored three goals for Monmouth, which will face Marist in the championship game Sunday at 10 a.m. Eastern (ESPNU). The Red Foxes advanced to their fourth straight MAAC final with an 8-5 win over Canisius. Goalie Brian Corrigan made 17 saves. J.D. Recor factored in five of Marist's eight goals with two goals and three assists.
Le Moyne Eliminates Merrimack
Merrimack may have ascended to the No. 1 ranking in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division II Men's Top 20, but it still had a Le Moyne-sized hump to overcome. That did not happen Friday, as the No. 5 Dolphins defeated the Warriors for the seventh time in the last three seasons — this time courtesy of Dan Entenmann's goal with 35 seconds left in overtime, which lifted Le Moyne to a 10-9 victory in the Northeast-10 semifinals.
Justin Kesselring scored six goals, including the game-tying alley from the left alley with 42 seconds left in regulation.
The Dolphins will play No. 3-ranked and top-seeded Adelphi in the conference championship game Sunday in Garden City, N.Y.. The Panthers advanced with an 11-5 win over Pace.
ODAC, Liberty League Finals Set
In Division III, No. 17 Lynchburg defeated No. 16 Roanoke 14-11 and Hampden-Sydney upended Washington and Lee 19-10 in ODAC semifinals Friday.
In the latter game, the fourth-seeded Tigers got 19 saves from goalie Nick Arcuri to knock off the defending conference champion and top-seeded Generals. Hampden-Sydney earned its school-record 14th win of the season.
No. 3 RIT doubled up Clarkson 20-10 and No. 9 St. Lawrence defeated Vassar 11-7 in Liberty League semifinals Friday to set up a top-10 showdown in the conference championship game.