Navy Seniors Sweep Army
Senior attackman Chris Hill and junior midfielder Ryan Wade combined to score five goals, while Navy’s defense weathered a late charge by Army to earn a 9-8 victory over the archrival Black Knights in the 99th-annual Army-Navy game Saturday at Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y. The announced crowd was 15,033, the second-largest crowd to watch an Army-Navy game at one of the participating institutions.
The victory secured a share of the Patriot League regular-season title for the Midshipmen (8-4, 7-1) and assures them of an opening-round bye in the Patriot League tournament in two weeks. It also marked Navy’s fourth straight win in the Star Game, making the Class of 2018 the first class to go 4-0 against Army since the Class of 2007.
No. 16 Navy is in first place in the Patriot League with a 7-1 conference record. Bucknell and Loyola are 6-1. Loyola can clinch the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League tournament — which comes with the rights to host the event and a bye to the semifinals — with a win over Army on Friday night.
Penn State Holds Off Hopkins
No. 15 Penn State defeated No. 5 Johns Hopkins for the first time in 10 tries, riding the hot hands of faceoff specialist Gerard Arceri (16-for-23), Mac O’Keefe (three goals, on assist) and Nick Spillane (two goals, five assists) to a 14-12 victory in Happy Valley.
Arceri, hobbled by a hamstring injury, pushed the Nittany Lions to a 10-5 lead at halftime with a sensational first-half performance that included winning eight of nine faceoffs in the first quarter.
Penn State rested Arceri in the third quarter, and the Blue Jays pulled within three. But Spillane scored with six seconds left in the frame and then reserve faceoff man Nick McEvoy took the ensuing draw to the house before time expired to give the Nittany Lions a 13-8 lead.
Johns Hopkins, which came in on a seven-game winning streak, pulled within two in when Cole Williams scored with 4:45 remaining. But the Blue Jays, who played most of the game without Shack Stanwick after he exited the game with an injury early, could draw no closer. Williams (three goals, two assists) and Joel Tinney (two goals, three assists) finished with five points apiece.
Hoyas Keep Wildcats Down
No. 18 Georgetown jumped out to an 11-5 lead in the first half and staved off a late Villanova rally to defeat the No. 13 Wildcats 13-11 in a key Big East game Saturday. Daniel Bucaro scored five goals and goalie Nick Marrocco made a season-high 15 saves for the No. 18 Hoyas, who picked up their second win over a nationally ranked opponent this season.
Villanova, coming off a lopsided loss to Denver, continued to struggle, as Georgetown faceoff specialist Peter Tagliaferri won all eight first-quarter faceoffs. The Wildcats went on a four-goal run on the fourth quarter to pull within one at 12-11, but Bucaro iced the game with seven minutes remaining.
Red-Hot Big Red Win Sixth Straight
With Johns Hopkins falling at Penn State, No. 12 Cornell officially assumes the mantle as the hottest team in college lacrosse.
The Big Red avoided a letdown following their big win over Syracuse on Tuesday, scoring on four of their first five shots and then staving off No. 17 Lehigh the rest of the way in a hard-fought 12-10 victory.
Jeff Teat finished with a game-high six points on two goals and four assists. Jonathan Donville added three goals and two assists and Clarke Petterson scored a game-high four goals.
Stony Brook Stakes Claim
The America East is suddenly anyone’s game.
A week after UMBC shocked No. 1 Albany, Stony Brook upset No. 19 Vermont in double overtime to improve to 3-1 in the conference and stake its claim in the race. Chris Pickel Jr. buried a feed from Jack Walsh for the game-winner to lift the Seawolves to an 8-7 victory Saturday at LaValle Stadium.
Nike/US Lacrosse
Top 20 Scoreboard
No. 3 Duke 18, No. 10 Virginia 13
No. 4 Denver 15, St. John’s 6
No. 15 Penn State 14, No. 5 Johns Hopkins 12
No. 6 Syracuse 13, North Carolina 12 (OT)
No. 8 Loyola 23, Boston University 9
No. 9 Yale 27, Brown 15
No. 12 Cornell 12, No. 17 Lehigh 10
No. 18 Georgetown 13, No. 13 Villanova 11
No. 16 Navy 9, Army 8
Stony Brook 8, No. 19 Vermont 7 (2OT)
No. 20 UMass 8, Towson 4
Complete Scoreboard