Yes, the top game of Saturday’s slate was the No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown at Audi Field. We’ll have more on the Maryland blowout win from Patrick Stevens. In the meantime, let’s dive into the first weekend of Ivy League conference play since 2019.
Let’s just say it lived up to the hype.
PRINCETON EMERGES FROM OVERTIME THRILLER
March Madness is a feeling not exclusive to college basketball. On the Saturday of the NCAA tournament, Princeton and Penn delivered one of the best games of the young 2022 season.
The thriller at Princeton featured 41 goals, 94 shots, 99 ground balls and a major comeback.
"That was crazy," Princeton coach Matt Madalon said after the game. "I'm exhausted, and I didn't even play."
In the end, Chris Brown’s missile with 2:15 left in overtime elicited a mob of Princeton players and clinched the 21-20 victory over Penn. Brown led the Tigers’ offensive effort with six goals and three assists, while Erik Peters made a clutch save to send the game to overtime.
Sam English scored twice in a first quarter owned by Princeton, where the Tigers scored the first three goals and led 5-2 after 15 minutes. Brown, Alex Slusher and Coulter Mackesy scored consecutive goals to make it 9-3 late in the second quarter.
Cam Rubin scored his second of seven goals with four second remaining before halftime to help the Quakers take the momentum into the break down 11-8. Rubin and Dylan Gergar added goals in the third quarter to make it 11-10, but Princeton responded with four of five goals to pull back ahead.
Down 15-11, Rubin and the Quakers took over. Rubin scored to start and finish a five-goal run that saw Penn take a brief 16-15 lead with 2:11 left in the third quarter. The teams went back-and-forth throughout the fourth quarter, with Brown giving Princeton a 20-19 lead with 2:06 left and Ben Smith answering for Penn 32 seconds later.
The Quakers had a chance to win it as the final seconds ticked down, James Shipley’s shot was saved by Peters, who allowed the clock to run out in regulation. In the overtime period, Brown received a pass from Mackesy to finish and seal the victory.
CORNELL HOLDS ON
No lead is safe in Ivy League play. Cornell almost learned that lesson the hard way.
Up by as many as seven goals in the fourth quarter, Cornell withstood a furious Yale rally and got an eventual game-winner from CJ Kirst to win 13-12. Kirst, the sophomore, led the Big Red with four goals.
Kirst and Aiden Blake each had two goals in the first half, which ended 8-5 in the favor of Cornell. Kirst, Blake and Matt Licciardi rallied off three third-quarter goals, and John Piatelli added another in the fourth to make it 12-5 with 14:00 left.
Yale, though, was not quitting on this Ivy league rivalry. Leo Johnson started the rally, followed by Brian Tevlin, Chris Lyons and Jack Monfort — a five-goal run to make it 12-10 with 7:34 remaining. Kirst scored Cornell’s 13th goal to break up the run just a minute later, but the Bulldogs kept pushing.
Johnson and Lyons added two more goals and Yale held possession down a goal with less than a minute left. Christian Cropp’s shot as time expired sailed high, allowing Cornell to hold on for the top 10 victory.
HARVARD SURVIVES BROWN
Devon McLane, one of the top scorers in the nation, played up to his resume against Harvard, but the Crimson were proved their worth on Saturday.
Harvard led by three goals on multiple occasions, but held on in the final moments for a potentially crucial 12-11 win over Brown in the Ivy League opener for both teams. Hayden Cheek had four goals, including a nifty behind-the-back, to lead the Harvard offense.
Cheek had two goals in a first quarter that saw Harvard jump out to a 4-2 lead. He and McLane, who finished with four goals and two assists, went back-and-forth in the second quarter, but the Crimson held onto the 6-5 lead at halftime.
Harvard rallied off three straight goals (Austin Madronic, Andrew Perry, Mils Botkiss) to take a 9-6 lead — its biggest of the game at that point. The Crimson added to the lead in the fourth quarter, getting a Sam King goal to make it 12-8 with 11:14 left.
Darian Cook answered for Brown, and McLane added two more in the final five minutes, but the Bears couldn’t find the equalizer. McLane’s shot with one second left was saved by Kyle Mullin to seal the game. Mullin finished with 18 saves.
SCORES
No. 3 Princeton 21, No. 6 Penn 20 (OT)
No. 4 Cornell 13, No. 9 Yale 12
No. 15 Harvard 12, No. 19 Brown 11
Dartmouth 17, St. John's 10