Saturday was a day for offensive fireworks in college men’s lacrosse, as Yale, Princeton and Loyola combined for 74 goals in blowout victories.
In other results, Penn State picked up a resume-building win over Johns Hopkins, Syracuse came back from two goals down late to upend North Carolina in overtime, Cornell continued its hot streak with a victory at Lehigh, Duke continued its dominance of Virginia, Georgetown upset Villanova and Navy topped Army in front of the biggest crowd ever to watch an Army-Navy game on either of the service academy’s campuses.
Cardiac Cuse Returns
Syracuse rediscovered its magic touch in tight games Saturday. Trailing North Carolina by three with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, the No. 6 Orange rallied to force overtime and won 13-12 on Brendan Bomberry’s goal 1:52 into the extra frame.
Freshman Brendan Curry was the unlikely hero.
After Syracuse killed a man-down and Stephen Rehfuss scored to pull the Orange within two, Curry, the son of former Syracuse great and National Lacrosse Hall of Famer Todd Curry, scored two goals in the final 1:34 to force overtime.
After Danny Varello won the opening faceoff of overtime, the Orange set up Curry on an invert set behind the goal. He dodged and fed Bomberry for the game-winner.
Bomberry with the winner! @CuseMLAX scores four unanswered to shock @UNCMensLacrosse 13-12 in OT. Orangemen stay on top @theACC. pic.twitter.com/7jxybWBFno
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) April 14, 2018
"I wasn't feeling too good when we were down three and they were man up with not a lot of time left, but it was a great experience for us to fight through that and come back to win the game in overtime," Syracuse coach John Desko said.
The Orange bounced back from a loss Tuesday at surging Cornell to finish perfect (4-0) in ACC play. Syracuse, which is 13-2 in its last 15 one-goal games, has won nine consecutive ACC games dating back to 2016.
Yale Throttles Brown with 27-Goal Outburst
Yale secured at least a share of the Ivy League regular season title with the most prolific offensive performance in school history, defeating Brown 27-15 on the road Saturday.
Fifteen different players scored for the No. 9 Bulldogs. Two-time Tewaaraton finalist Ben Reeves led the way with four goals and three assists. The 27 goals were the most since Yale recorded a 26-0 win over the Bears in 1927, the year the sport began at Brown.
The teams combined for 42 goals and 108 shots (a 67-41 edge for the Bulldogs). Yale trailed 7-6 before going on a five-goal run in the second quarter. The Bulldogs then unleashed 16 goals in the second half, including three goals on one extra-man opportunity after Brown defenseman JJ Ntshaykolo was ejected due to a hit to the head on Matt Gaudet.
PHOTO BY JOHN STROHSACKER
Loyola goalie Jacob Stover rears back to uncork a length-of-field heave that would end up in the opposite net as a second-quarter buzzer-beater in Loyola's 23-9 win over Boston University at Ridley Athletic Complex on Saturday.
The Best of Loyola’s 23 Goals
Jacob Stover channeled the kind of distance his father, Matt, used to demonstrate as a long-time kicker for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, scoring on an 80-yard heave as time expired in the second quarter — part of a 23-goal eruption as the No. 8 Greyhounds defeated visiting Boston University 23-9.
GOALIE GOAL ALERT Stover scores and @LoyolaMLAX leads 9-6 at half. pic.twitter.com/E98MvA7PCx
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) April 14, 2018
The 23 goals were the most by Loyola since a 24-5 win over Fairfield in 1997.
Coach Charley Toomey told the Baltimore Sun afterward that the Greyhounds had prepared to beat BU’s 10-man ride and as such encouraged players to practice long-range shots.
“I saw there was 2 seconds left and just let it go, and the ball did the rest,” Stover told The Sun. “I just tried to get it on target. It was a lucky shot, I would say.”