The Post-Week Tailgate: April 7, 2024

The rematch of last year’s NCAA championship between Duke and Notre Dame delivered as expected on Sunday. It was tied in the fourth quarter, the stars showed up and so did the crowd. Notre Dame came out on top, 15-12, to further entrench itself at No. 1 in the standings, but the great thing about this year is that you can find that level of excitement everywhere.

On Saturday night, Bryant and UAlbany staged their own rematch – this one from last year’s America East championship game. Bryant had a two-goal lead late in the fourth quarter, only to see UAlbany rally to tie things up.

There would be no overtime. Aidan Goltz scored his fourth goal of the game with just five seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs the win. You can see his game-winner below and the pure joy he felt in the picture captured by our photographer Rich Barnes at the top of this story.

Aidan Goltz with the 🗡️

Bryant beats UAlbany 13-12 in a thrilling game under the lights.

🎥: ESPN pic.twitter.com/vWnR1dwl7T

— Bryant Men’s Lacrosse (@Bryant_MLax) April 7, 2024

The America East has traditionally been a one-bid league, and man are we looking at some fun down the stretch. Bryant, Binghamton (which had its own excitement with an overtime win at Vermont), UAlbany and UMBC are all tied at 3-1 in league play and the aforementioned Vermont team is every bit as dangerous and sitting at 2-2.

The top seed will host the league’s four-team championship tournament, so you can expect emotions to be on full display.

Random Observations

How much pressure do coaches face? It’s not just their own games, it’s every game. I had a conversation with a head coach recently and he was agonizing over a midweek game he wasn’t playing in, just because of how that result could affect his RPI. We have officially reached the part of the season where everything matters.

At the start of the season, I was looking over Colgate’s schedule with a colleague. Our observation? Colgate head coach Matt Karweck must be nuts. Six straight quality opponents before beginning league play – and none of the games at home.

I’ve written about that schedule a couple of times this year, and all I can say is, I was wrong.

The Red Raiders, who upset Penn State during that early stretch, were clearly ready for Patriot League play. Saturday’s 14-11 upset win over Army has moved Colgate into a three-way tie for first in the league at 4-1 with Boston University and Navy. It should come as no surprise that the win came in a familiar place for Colgate, on the road.

More than 20 minutes into Saturday’s game, Johns Hopkins and Penn State had combined for just one goal. As Johns Hopkins head coach Peter Milliman aptly said, “There’s no doubt those are two of the best goalies in the country,” referring to his own Chayse Ierlan and Penn State’s Jack Fracyon.

Hopkins ended up prevailing in the defensive battle, 9-8 in overtime, and its yo-yo of a season now finds the Jays alone atop the Big Ten at 3-0. The Blue Jays had lost two games in a row, including a surprising loss to Navy, before beginning league play. With its three losses all coming by a single goal, winning a nailbiter was a result Hopkins needed.

Not a single Big Ten team scored double-digits goals this weekend. In addition to the JHU-Penn State game, Maryland got past Ohio State 8-7 and Rutgers closed things out on Sunday night with a 9-7 victory at Michigan.

By the Numbers

200 • Career goals for Virginia’s Payton Cormier. Mac O’Keefe’s NCAA Division I men’s record of 221 is within sight.

8 • Consecutive wins for Georgetown after an 11-8 win over Marquette on Saturday. The Hoyas won just 3 of 22 faceoffs in the game as starter James Ball took just two draws. The Hoyas head to Denver for a monster Big East game on Saturday – and a matchup against one of the best face off specialists in the country – Alec Stathakis.

5 • Maryland games decided by just a goal in the Terps 10 outings this year. Maryland edged Ohio State 8-7 on Saturday behind four goals from Eric Spanos to improve to 4-1 in its one-goal games.

7 • Goals by Richmond’s Luke Grayum in the Spiders 21-8 win over Hobart on Saturday, tying the school’s single-game record. Grayum scored all seven of his goals in the first half as Richmond jumped out to a 14-2 halftime lead.

9 • Consecutive goals by Bucknell in a span of less than 15 minutes against Loyola, but the Greyhounds rallied from a five-goal deficit to beat the Bison 15-13.

633 • Career saves for Notre Dame goalie Liam Entenmann, tying Joey Kemp’s school record. Entenmann had 14 saves in Notre Dame’s 15-12 win over Duke on Sunday. 

18 • Saves by Rutgers freshman goalie Cardin Stoller in the Scarlet Knights 9-7 win at Michigan. It was his ninth double-digit save effort this season.