D-II Men's Rewind: Le Moyne Guts Out Win Over Adelphi

Hey. We’re back.

The ranks are done, but the playoffs require a different sort of breakdown. One that bracketed buckets of listicles demand. 

BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE

Saint Anselm needed something special to beat Mercy in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. And the Hawks got it. That something special is named Jack Andrews. He finished with a monstrous seven goals in a 17-16 win. It wasn’t just the seven goals, though. It was the timing. Four of them came in the fourth quarter. The first of those four made it 12-11, Saint Anselm. The next made it 14-13. The next made it 16-15. And the last was the winner, making it 17-16 with just 1:47 to go. Four separate times in the fourth quarter alone, Andrews gave Saint Anselm the lead.

BEST TEAM PERFORMANCE

Some fans who haven’t followed Division II that closely might have expected Le Moyne to be blowing teams out. The Dolphins are undefeated, after all. Plus the news that the Dolphins will be going Division I. But Le Moyne has been gutting out wins for some time now, and that was the case against Adelphi. It took a little something from everyone for Le Moyne to win this one 11-7. The 11 goals came from eight different players and six were assisted. Nico Mattai went 67 percent facing off, and Matt Vavonese stopped 59 percent in net. At this time of year, it’s harder and harder to get by on just one or two stars, but the Le Moyne offense ran deep and delivered the Dolphins to the semifinals.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Lenoir-Rhyne beating Rollins? It’s probably not a shock for ardent D-II fans, but if you’re watching these playoffs and looking at seeds to guide your fealty, you were let down by backing the Sunshine Staters. Rollins hadn’t taken a loss since its March 11 game against Colorado Mesa and climbed all the way to the No. 2 in the polls before the tournament began. Syracuse transfer Mikey Berkman has been an offensive wizard for Rollins, piling up 72 points on a nearly even split of goals and assists. But the Bears limited him to no goals and just one assist on only five shots. Myles Moffat and Toron Eccelston only put up three of Lenoir-Rhyne’s 14 goals in the victory, which may be a bigger surprise than the end result. The pair has combined for nearly 150 points this year and the lion’s share of LRU scoring. 

BIGGEST UPSET

UIndy came into the postseason on a bit of a sour note. The Greyhounds suffered a shocking upset at the hands of Lewis to end their conference tournament run early, and suddenly (maybe) looked like a team without much in the way of signature wins. A first-round matchup against a red-hot Wingate, led by one of the deadliest scoring duos in D-II in Willie Grieco and Danny Riley, was their biggest challenge of the year. UIndy lost to Wingate earlier in the spring by five goals. But in the opening round of the tournament, UIndy bounced back. While Grieco and Riley got theirs, combining for eight points, but the rest of the Wingate offense was severely limited. UIndy was able to avenge that regular season loss with an 11-7 tournament win. 

FILTHIEST GOAL

This is a lock. 

Ethan Loun with a BTB to the low far corner on the run. And maybe the craziest post-goal commentary all weekend? I remember the first BTB I saw. Just thought it was kinda sick. 

TOUGHEST LOSS

Bentley beating Adelphi one time was eye opening. The second win was a remarkable statement. But beating a team a third time in the same season is extremely difficult, and for the Falcons, it was a tall order. The stakes in the third clash were highest, as they met in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The expected stars were out, as Nathan Alviti had six points for Bentley, but in the end, it was just too hard to solve Dylan Renner. The Adelphi netminder finished with 13 saves, keeping Bentley to just eight goals. Joe Duchnowski added three goals and an assist, and Adelphi advanced.