
Photo by: Noel Gyllenhaal
No. 13 Army West Point Rallies Past Bucknell Men's Lacrosse, 10-9
4/2/2022 3:45:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
LEWISBURG, Pa. – No. 13 Army West Point scored three goals in the final four minutes of regulation to rally past the Bucknell men's lacrosse team, 10-9, on Saturday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium at the Pascucci Family Athletics Complex.
The Bison (7-3, 1-3 PL) fell to the Black Knights (8-2, 4-1 PL) despite Rich O'Halloran's career-best 16-save performance and Dutch Furlong and Alston Tarry's four-goal outings in a fast, physical game marked by momentum swings and scoring flurries.
For Army West Point, Will Coletti was the difference maker; the standout freshman won 19 of 23 faceoffs, collected a game-high 12 ground balls and netted the goal that kicked off his team's game-deciding three-strike run.
After Tarry gave Bucknell a 9-7 advantage with a power-play goal at the fourth quarter's 4:06 mark, Coletti won the resulting faceoff and found the back of the net 12 seconds later to draw the Black Knights back within a single strike. Brendan Nichtern, Army West Point's all-time leading point producer, netted the equalizer with 2:20 left to play after Bobby Abshire forced a failed Bison clear; it was the 100th goal of the reigning Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year's decorated career.
The Black Knights got the ball right back following a Coletti faceoff win. After Paul Johnson scored what proved to be the game-winning goal with 1:43 remaining in regulation, Coletti again won the faceoff. Bucknell managed to get the ball back after Duncan Hill forced a Nichtern turnover with 28 seconds on the clock. The Bison made it to their offensive zone and called a timeout with 5.4 seconds left to play; their final shot came seconds after time expired.
The game was a back-and-forth affair. After Army West Point raced out to an early 4-1 lead, Bucknell closed the second quarter on a 5-0 run to carry a 6-4 advantage into the intermission. During that run, Furlong completed his hat trick; notably, his first goal came in transition seven seconds before Tarry finished off a Nick Crovatto feed following a faceoff win.
The Black Knights owned the third quarter, scoring all three of its goals to take a 7-6 lead. The Bison came out strong in the final frame, regaining their advantage with a 3-0 run of their own that saw Tarry strike twice.
Bucknell held Army West Point without a goal for a 20:05 stretch from the second quarter's 14:15 mark to the third frame's 9:10 mark; the Black Knights turned around and held the Bison off the board for a 20:25 span from the second quarter's 3:05 mark to the final frame's 12:40 mark.
Beyond Furlong and Tarry, Harry Wellford (1g-1a) and Cam Doolan (2a) enjoyed multi-point outings. Drew Wellington tied O'Halloran and Joe Scattareggia for the team-best total in ground balls (4) and also caused a turnover.
Reid Delanois covered Nichtern, helping hold him to just two goals against six turnovers. He finished the contest with two caused turnovers and a ground ball. Travis Talarico and Danny Striano were also key to Bucknell's defensive success. Talarico logged three ground balls and two caused turnovers while Striano caused a game-high three turnovers and also collected two ground balls.
Of O'Halloran's 16 saves, 11 came in the first half. Overall, he turned aside five Nichtern bids.
For Army West Point, Reese Burek netted four goals while Nichtern finished with four points on two goals and two helpers. Wyatt Schupler earned the win by making 12 saves, only two of which came in the second half.
The Black Knights led in shots (42-37), shots on goal (26-21), ground balls (37-30) and faceoffs (19-4). The Bison went 3-6 on the man advantage while holding Army West Point to 0-1.
The Black Knights handed Bucknell its first home loss of the 2022 campaign; entering the game, the Bison were 4-0 at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. They also became the first team to hold star freshman Connor Davis, who entered the game as the NCAA leader in goals per game (3.89), without a goal.
During the game, Bucknell recognized its 2001 Patriot League Championship team; the 2001 Bison went an unbeaten 6-0 in Patriot League action to earn their title; they also went 10-4 overall and captured the program's first NCAA Tournament berth.
Bucknell next travels to current No. 20 Lehigh on Sunday, April 10 for a 1 p.m. game that will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.
The Bison (7-3, 1-3 PL) fell to the Black Knights (8-2, 4-1 PL) despite Rich O'Halloran's career-best 16-save performance and Dutch Furlong and Alston Tarry's four-goal outings in a fast, physical game marked by momentum swings and scoring flurries.
For Army West Point, Will Coletti was the difference maker; the standout freshman won 19 of 23 faceoffs, collected a game-high 12 ground balls and netted the goal that kicked off his team's game-deciding three-strike run.
After Tarry gave Bucknell a 9-7 advantage with a power-play goal at the fourth quarter's 4:06 mark, Coletti won the resulting faceoff and found the back of the net 12 seconds later to draw the Black Knights back within a single strike. Brendan Nichtern, Army West Point's all-time leading point producer, netted the equalizer with 2:20 left to play after Bobby Abshire forced a failed Bison clear; it was the 100th goal of the reigning Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year's decorated career.
The Black Knights got the ball right back following a Coletti faceoff win. After Paul Johnson scored what proved to be the game-winning goal with 1:43 remaining in regulation, Coletti again won the faceoff. Bucknell managed to get the ball back after Duncan Hill forced a Nichtern turnover with 28 seconds on the clock. The Bison made it to their offensive zone and called a timeout with 5.4 seconds left to play; their final shot came seconds after time expired.
The game was a back-and-forth affair. After Army West Point raced out to an early 4-1 lead, Bucknell closed the second quarter on a 5-0 run to carry a 6-4 advantage into the intermission. During that run, Furlong completed his hat trick; notably, his first goal came in transition seven seconds before Tarry finished off a Nick Crovatto feed following a faceoff win.
The Black Knights owned the third quarter, scoring all three of its goals to take a 7-6 lead. The Bison came out strong in the final frame, regaining their advantage with a 3-0 run of their own that saw Tarry strike twice.
Bucknell held Army West Point without a goal for a 20:05 stretch from the second quarter's 14:15 mark to the third frame's 9:10 mark; the Black Knights turned around and held the Bison off the board for a 20:25 span from the second quarter's 3:05 mark to the final frame's 12:40 mark.
Beyond Furlong and Tarry, Harry Wellford (1g-1a) and Cam Doolan (2a) enjoyed multi-point outings. Drew Wellington tied O'Halloran and Joe Scattareggia for the team-best total in ground balls (4) and also caused a turnover.
Reid Delanois covered Nichtern, helping hold him to just two goals against six turnovers. He finished the contest with two caused turnovers and a ground ball. Travis Talarico and Danny Striano were also key to Bucknell's defensive success. Talarico logged three ground balls and two caused turnovers while Striano caused a game-high three turnovers and also collected two ground balls.
Of O'Halloran's 16 saves, 11 came in the first half. Overall, he turned aside five Nichtern bids.
For Army West Point, Reese Burek netted four goals while Nichtern finished with four points on two goals and two helpers. Wyatt Schupler earned the win by making 12 saves, only two of which came in the second half.
The Black Knights led in shots (42-37), shots on goal (26-21), ground balls (37-30) and faceoffs (19-4). The Bison went 3-6 on the man advantage while holding Army West Point to 0-1.
The Black Knights handed Bucknell its first home loss of the 2022 campaign; entering the game, the Bison were 4-0 at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. They also became the first team to hold star freshman Connor Davis, who entered the game as the NCAA leader in goals per game (3.89), without a goal.
During the game, Bucknell recognized its 2001 Patriot League Championship team; the 2001 Bison went an unbeaten 6-0 in Patriot League action to earn their title; they also went 10-4 overall and captured the program's first NCAA Tournament berth.
Bucknell next travels to current No. 20 Lehigh on Sunday, April 10 for a 1 p.m. game that will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.
Team Stats
ARMY
BUCKNELL
Shots
42
37
Turnovers
18
17
Caused Turnovers
7
11
Faceoffs Won
19
4
Extra-Man Opps
1
6
Ground Balls
37
30
Game Leaders
Players
Players Mentioned
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