Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Loyola (Md.)
Men's Lax Falls at No. 1 Loyola 13-5, Will be No. 5 Seed in PL Tournament
4/17/2014 9:57:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BALTIMORE, Md. – Brian Schultz scored six goals to lift No. 1 Loyola to a 13-5 win over Bucknell in the Patriot League regular-season finale for both teams on Thursday night at the Ridley Athletic Center. Sean Doyle scored twice for the Bison, who will be the No. 5 seed in the Patriot League Tournament and travel to Colgate for a quarterfinal game next Tuesday.
Sam Grinberg made 13 saves and the Bison defense held strong for most of the night, however the Loyola defense was even more stout, limiting Bucknell (7-7, 4-4 PL) to just a single goal in the first three quarters. The Greyhounds (12-1, 8-0) came in ranked fourth nationally in scoring defense, and Bucknell has now faced six of the top seven defenses in the country this season.
Loyola's 12th straight win since a season-opening overtime loss at Virginia was punctuated by a career-high six goals from Schultz, who was on fire all night. Nikko Pontrello added three goals and an assist, and Justin Ward had a goal and three assists.
Loyola outshot the Bison 42-34 and received 14 saves from goalie Jack Runkel. Ryan Joseph's first-quarter goal was the only shot that got past Runkel until the Bison posted four in the fourth quarter. Doyle scored two of those, and Peter Burke and Thomas Flibotte had the others.
After about seven minutes of scoreless lacrosse, Bucknell caught an unfortunate break that led to the game's opening goal for Loyola. David Dickson snatched a missed shot behind the goal and quickly fed Doyle in front for an apparent goal, but Doyle had a toe on the line and the goal was waved off. At the other end the Bison took a slashing penalty and Loyola's Schultz converted on the EMO.
The Bison did get that goal back 1:05 later. Playing on with a penalty flag down against Loyola, Joseph took a feed from Tom Black and scored with a quick-stick to make it 1-1.
Matt Sawyer finished a feed from Schultz with 4:47 left in the opening period to put the Greyhounds in front for good. Loyola carved out some breathing room with three goals in a span of just under five minutes in the second quarter. Schultz scored two of those goals to give him his hat trick, and Pontrello had the other as Loyola took advantage of a Bison turnover.
Up 5-1 at the half, the Greyhounds made it 8-1 after three on tallies by Pontrello, Ward and Schultz. Burke's shot that snuck past Runkel and trickled over the line 55 seconds into the fourth quarter snapped a string of 20 straight missed or saved shots for the Bison. Doyle scored two straight midway through the fourth, including the team's first man-down goal of the season on a sweet lefty shot tucked just inside the post.
Flibotte made it 11-5 with a running shot from the right wing with 3:34 to play, and then Loyola tacked on two more late tallies to finish the scoring.
The Greyhounds won 14 of the 21 faceoffs and won the ground ball battle 39-31. Ben Kellar led Bucknell with six ground balls and Dickson and Alex Spring added four each. Dickson's 41-game point-scoring streak – the eighth-longest in the country – came to an end.
Bucknell had a chance to move into the No. 4 position and host a quarterfinal game with a win and a Colgate loss to Army on Friday, but this result at Loyola locks the Bison into the No. 5 seed.
The Bucknell-Colgate quarterfinal game in Hamilton, N.Y., will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network. The game time has yet to be announced.
