SYRACUSE OUTLASTS ARMY IN 3OT
Syracuse goalie Dom Madonna converted the Carrier Dome back into a football stadium Saturday, rearing back and firing a 48-yard clearing pass to Ryan Simmons for a breakaway goal in triple overtime to lift the Orange to an 11-10 victory over Army. Read more here about the Orange’s comeback win, which came a week after Albany blew out Syracuse in the Dome and appeared headed for a similar outcome.
VILLANOVA TOPS HOFSTRA
Villanova is winning every which way.
Junior goalie Nick Testa, who was not even the starter at the outset of the season, outdueled All-American Jack Concannon as the No. 7 Wildcats defeated No. 16 Hofstra 7-2 in the teams’ first encounter since they were CAA rivals back in 2009. Villanova (3-0) has defeated three straight ranked opponents, two on the road (Penn State and Hofstra) and one at a neutral site (Yale in Dallas). The Wildcats also have proven capable of keeping up in a shootout or prevailing in a defensive affair as they did Saturday in Hempstead, N.Y.
Testa, who was the backup to Virginia transfer Matt Barrett before Barrett went down early in the season opener with a knee injury, made 12 saves, allowing only two unassisted Dylan Alderman goals.
Concannon was sharp as well, making 13 saves. The Pride (0-2) played a ton of defense, winning just three of 13 faceoffs against the Wildcats duo of Luke Palmadesso (5-for-7) and Dan Fisher (5-for-6).
Villanova outshot Hofstra 39-29, including a 17-8 advantage in the third quarter.
Christian Cuccinello led the Wildcats with three goals in a game that featured long scoreless stretches on both sides. Villanova scored three goals in a one-minute stretch in the first quarter, two goals in a span of 42 seconds to start the third quarter and two more goals separated by 1 minute, 35 seconds midway through the third quarter. Both teams were blanked in the second and fourth quarters.
GREAT DANES DESTROY DREXEL
Can anyone stop Albany?
A week after steamrolling Syracuse in a surprise result at the Carrier Dome, the Great Danes made it more of the same in their home opener Saturday against Drexel. They drilled the Dragons with nine first-quarter goals en route an 18-5 victory at Casey Stadium.
Sophomore faceoff ace TD Ierlan was sensational again — nearly invincible, actually. Ierlan went 21-for-22 and scooped 17 ground balls to supply Albany’s prolific offense with plenty of possessions.
Senior attackman Connor Fields, a Tewaaraton finalist last year, scored 41 seconds into the game, and the rout was on. Fields finished with two goals and seven assists. Tehoka Nanticoke, Justin Reh and Kyle McClancy added three goals apiece, as the Great Danes outshot Drexel 53-28.
PHOTO BY JOHN STROHSACKER
Georgetown’s Daniel Bucaro operates against Towson’s Sid Ewell. Bucaro scored four goals in the Hoyas’ 12-10 victory at Johnny Unitas Stadium.
HOYAS OFF TO BEST START SINCE ’03
Daniel Bucaro scored four goals and added two assists to lead Georgetown to a 12-10 victory Saturday at Towson.
The Hoyas are 3-0 to start the season for the first time since 2003. The Tigers, rebuilding after last year’s surprising run to the NCAA semifinals, fell to 1-2.
Bucaro got Georgetown going in the second quarter. With the Hoyas trailing 5-2, he scored three straight goals to spark a 5-0 run.
Towson answered with four of the next five goals, including three unassisted tallies by Jon Mazza, to send the game into the fourth quarter tied at 9.
The Hoyas dominated the final frame, outshooting the Tigers 12-3 and pulling away for the final margin.
Towson committed 16 turnovers, effectively nullifying the possession advantage afforded by faceoff man Alex Woodall (17-for-25).
VIRGINIA WINS ANOTHER SHOOTOUT
Lars Tiffany wants people to believe Virginia is overrated. He’ll have a hard time making that case much longer.
The No. 9 Cavaliers (4-0) defeated No. 20 Princeton 18-15 at Klockner Stadium in a shootout Saturday, renewing a rivalry that provided similarly entertaining games in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Virginia’s faceoff specialist Justin Schwenk was 25-for-34 (73.5 percent), his 25 wins being the second-most in a single game in Cavaliers history. (Jason Hand won 29 faceoffs against Syracuse in 1997.) Freshman Ian Laviano scored a game-high five goals, his second five-goal performance this season, and sophomore Michael Kraus added four goals and three assists to pace Virginia’s prolific offense, which is averaging 15.5 goals per game during its 4-0 start.
The game was tied at 10 at halftime. The turning point came on a man-down goal, when Cavaliers freshman goalie Alex Rode sent a 60-yard pass to Mike D’Amario, who flipped to Kraus for a layup early in the third quarter. That started a three-goal Virginia run. The Cavaliers punctuated the frame with a goal by long pole Jared Conners off a restart as time expired.
Conners finished with two goals and combined with Ryan Conrad (10 ground balls) to give Schwenk the support he needed on the wings to tip the possession balance in Virginia’s favor.
“What would life be like without Justin Schwenk and his wingmen? … Those three were absolutely key today,” Tiffany said.
D-II UPHEAVAL
There were two top-five upsets in Division II men’s lacrosse Saturday.
No. 19 LIU Post defeated No. 5 Adelphi for the first time during the regular season since 2009, riding an impressive defensive performance and efficient shooting to a 9-8 victory and improving to 2-0 under first-year coach Eric Wolf.
No. 15 Colorado Mesa upended No. 3 Lenoir-Rhyne 13-12 thanks to Jack Griffin’s game-winning goal with 32 seconds remaining.
NIKE/US LACROSSE
DIVISION I TOP 20 SCOREBOARD
No. 17 Penn 10, No. 1 Duke 9
No. 3 Albany 18, Drexel 5
No. 5 Notre Dame 11, Richmond 7
No. 7 Villanova 7, No. 16 Hofstra 2
No. 8 Yale 15, Michigan 11
No. 9 Virginia 18, No. 20 Princeton 15
No. 10 Loyola 19, Lafayette 5
No. 18 Syracuse 11, No. 11 Army 10 (3OT)
No. 12 Rutgers 12, Fairfield 7
Robert Morris 12, No. 14 Penn State 9
Bucknell 13, No. 19 Colgate 10
MORE SCORES
Brown 18, Stony Brook 11
Bryant 15, Hartford 10
Canisius 14, Furman 13
Cornell 15, Hobart 8
Delaware 15, Monmouth 11
Georgetown 12, Towson 10
Harvard 16, UMass 11
Lehigh 15, Holy Cross 4
Marquette 13, Detroit Mercy 6
Navy 10, Boston University 8
Providence 4, Saint Joseph’s 3
St. John’s 16, High Point 11
Vermont 10, Quinnipiac 5
VMI 11, NJIT 9
DIVISION II
No. 19 LIU Post 9, No. 5 Adelphi 8
No. 15 Colorado Mesa 13, No. 3 Lenoir-Rhyne 12
DIVISION III
No. 12 Gettysburg 11, No. 3 Salisbury 10 (2OT)
No. 7 Cabrini 16, No. 19 Lynchburg 15
No. 5 RIT 9, No. 14 Bates 7