Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Lehigh
Men's Lax Shuts Down Lehigh Late, Joseph's Goal Wins it in OT 9-8
3/7/2015 6:11:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Moments after senior goalie Sam Grinberg made a breathtaking save to keep the game alive, senior Ryan Joseph buried the game-winning goal to give Bucknell a big 9-8 overtime win on the road at Patriot League rival Lehigh on a Saturday afternoon that saw even more shakeup in the conference standings. Grinberg finished with 14 saves, Joseph had a hat trick, and senior David Dickson tallied a goal and four assists in his second game back from injury to help the Bison improve to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the Patriot League.
Bucknell trailed 7-6 at the half following a wild, eight-goal second quarter, and the game was knotted at 8-8 after three periods. The rest of the match belonged to the defenses and the goalies, however, as neither side managed another goal until Joseph's rip off a skip pass from Sean Doyle with 8.9 seconds left in overtime.
Lehigh goalie Matt Poillon stopped 16 shots, including two in the final minute of regulation to help force overtime. Long-stick middie Alex Spring collected his eighth ground ball of the game on the OT faceoff, but the Bison would later turn the ball over on an errant pass. Lehigh's first sudden-death possession resulted in a good look for Billy Oppenheimer from 15 yards out, but Grinberg made a sprawling stop on the tricky bounce shot and corralled the rebound.
Bucknell cleared, and as the clock ticked inside 10 seconds, Doyle sent a pass across the defense to Joseph on the right flank. Joseph's lefty shot beat Poillon and gave Bucknell its first overtime win since a 12-11 double-OT victory over Navy in 2011.
Dan Taylor registered three goals and an assist for Lehigh (2-3, 1-2 PL). His unassisted tally gave Lehigh an 8-7 lead with 4:35 left in the third quarter, and that would be the Mountain Hawks' final goal of the day.
Senior defenseman Ben Kellar drew the matchup on Taylor, who had a five-goal, five-assist performance against Furman earlier in the year and came into the game ranked second nationally in assists and third in points. Taylor was averaging six points per game, but Kellar helped keep him to four while also recording a game-high four caused turnovers.
Spring seemed to be everywhere for the Bison. His eight ground balls were one shy of his career high, set last season in a win over Brown. A number of those GBs came on faceoff wings, and he helped the Bison to an 11-10 edge on draws. Gavin Sullivan went 10-for-20 at the X, and freshman defenseman Lukas Munoz was 1-for-1.
Spring also logged his first point of the year with a brilliant assist on Bucknell's first goal of the game. Simultaneous penalties gave Lehigh an early two-man advantage, but the Bison forced a turnover. Spring was double-teamed on a restart deep in the corner behind his own goal, but he juked his way around both riders, sprinted down the right sideline and fired a long pass into the Lehigh box. Joseph took the pass on a bounce and fired it home for a rare 4-on-6 shorthanded goal.
Dickson came out of the penalty box and scored 56 seconds later to make it 2-0. Lehigh tied it, but the Bison went back ahead 3-2 on a Kyle Shanahan goal.
The Mountain Hawks outscored the Bison 5-3 in a fast-paced second quarter. Nolan Apers scored with 47 seconds left in the period to give Lehigh its first multi-goal lead at 7-5. Spring earned the Bison a faceoff win, and Dickson picked out Will Sands on the crease for a big goal just seven seconds before halftime.
Tommy O'Connor netted his first goal of the season at the 8:45 mark of the third quarter to tie the score at 7-all. Taylor put Lehigh back in front 4:10 later, but the Bison tied it up again on a nice passing play from Dickson to a cutting Connor O'Hara with 26 seconds left in the third.
O'Hara's goal would be the final tally of regulation for either side. Bucknell outshot Lehigh 10-3 in a scoreless fourth quarter, but Poillon made six saves in the period. That included stops on Joseph and Dickson in the final minute, the latter coming with just 11 seconds to play.
Bucknell finished with a 37-33 shot advantage, while Lehigh led 31-27 in ground balls. The Bison forced 19 turnovers while committing 15. They came into the game averaging 10.5 turnovers per game, the best mark in the country.
Dickson now has 147 career points, and on Saturday he passed Tom Cusick, Tom Walther and Pete Keblish to move into sixth place on Bucknell's all-time list. Spring is closing in on the top-10 ground balls list. He now has 137, which is just one behind John Scally and Brian Loesch for the No. 9 spot in school history.
Elsewhere in Patriot League action, nationally ranked Army and Colgate lost to Holy Cross and Boston University, respectively. So on March 7, all nine Patriot League teams have at least one loss. Bucknell jumps into a first-place tie with Colgate and Holy Cross at 2-1.
The Bison will step away from league play on Tuesday when they host Fairfield at 3 p.m., then Holy Cross visits Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium next Saturday at 1 p.m.
