A magnificent performance by one of the country's best freshmen, Chris Gray, resulted in a stunning upset as Boston University knocked off No. 11 Bucknell 12-11 in the opening round of the Patriot League tournament.

The Terriers (8-7) will meet top-seeded Loyola at 4:30 p.m. on Friday in Baltimore in the first Patriot League semifinal. Lehigh, which beat Colgate 11-6 on Tuesday night, will meet No. 2 seed Navy in the second semifinal on Friday. Both games will be broadcast nationally on the CBS Sports Network.

Bucknell, one of the hottest teams in the country, came into Tuesday night's game against Boston U riding a six-game winning streak that included wins over a pair of Top 10 teams — Loyola and Yale.

For most of the night, it looked as if the Bison (11-4) would keep right on rolling. Bucknell led 11-6 late in the third quarter before Boston U's Greg Farris scored on an extra-man tally with 4:14 left in the quarter.

BU added two more goals before the quarter ended. Gray, named the Patriot League's Rookie of the Year on Monday, scored with three minutes left and then the Terriers got a huge momentum boost when Hayden Ruiz scored with just two seconds left in the quarter to cut Bucknell's lead to 11-9.

A little over a minute into the fourth quarter, Gray found Brendan Homire for a goal to trim the deficit to one. With 10:41 left, Gray scored his fifth goal of the game to tie the game at 11-11.

The score remained that way until the 6:56 mark when Gray made a magnificent pass behind the cage, hitting a cutting Homire for what proved to be the game-winning goal. To understand how in the zone Gray was, all you had to do was look at him raise his arms in celebration before Homire even took the shot.

Stunner in @PL_MLAX tourney. Brendan Homire from Chris Gray for the winner as @TerrierMLAX beats @Bucknell_MLAX 12-11. pic.twitter.com/F84Q1meDOz

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) April 25, 2018

Bucknell had opportunities to tie the game, but failed to convert two extra-man opportunities in the final five minutes and Boston U goalie Joe McSorley made two saves in the final 90 seconds, the last coming with 35 seconds remaining on a shot by Tom Smith, who had four goals in the game.

Gray finished the night with nine points, notching four assists to go along with his five goals. Homire and James Burr each scored twice for the Terriers and McSorley made 12 saves.

Smith's four goals led Bucknell and Tommy Sopko added three.

Defense Helps Carry Lehigh Past Colgate

Two goals in the final 29 seconds of the first quarter served as the spark Lehigh needed and the fourth-seeded Mountain Hawks wouldn’t look back, downing No. 5 seed Colgate, 11-6, in the other Patriot League quarterfinal on Tuesday evening.

That two-goal surge turned a 1-0 advantage into 3-0 as Lehigh’s lead eventually reached 11-3 late in the fourth quarter. It was an all-around effort for a Mountain Hawks’ team that struggled down the stretch, dropping its final three regular-season games and giving up 42 goals in the process.

“I really challenged our defense, and our goaltenders, in the short week to come out and play well,” said Lehigh head coach Kevin Cassese. “To hold them to zero in the first quarter was huge.”

James Spence stopped 11-of-15 shots in one of the best performances of his career. He stopped 8-of-9 in the first half to help the Mountain Hawks take a 6-1 halftime advantage.

Nifty stick protection and Lucas Spence gives @LehighLacrosse a 6-1 halftime lead over @ColgateLacrosse in @PL_MLAX tournament. pic.twitter.com/S09zPrfZjC

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) April 25, 2018

Despite Colgate going on a three-goal run in the last five minutes of the game, Lehigh still held the Raiders to a season-low six goals. Matt Donovan led the Raiders with two goals and an assist while Colgate’s top two goal scorers, Griffin Brown and Mike Hawkins, were held without a single point.

Tristan Rai scored with 29 seconds remaining in the first quarter to give Lehigh a 2-0 lead, then after a full-field pass with time winding down, a sequence of passes led to the first of five Andrew Pettit goals on the evening. Those five tallied tied a Patriot League tournament single-game record.

“We’ve been harping a lot on just playing as a full unit offensively,” said Pettit. “Six guys, not one guy, playing well together and I think we did that today. We moved the ball a lot and found a lot of tap-in goals.”

Eight of Lehigh’s 11 goals were assisted as Rai led the way with three helpers, along with a goal. After scoring four goals in Lehigh’s 10-7 regular-season win over Colgate, John Mehok had a goal and two assists. That 10-7 victory marked the last time Lehigh had won on its home field, having dropped four straight to end the regular season – all against teams currently in the top 10 of this week’s Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Rankings.

The Mountain Hawks will have a chance to avenge one of those defeats on Friday when they face second-seeded Navy in the Patriot League semifinals.

— Justin Lafleur