ST. DAVIDS, Pa.- Will Johnson scored his third goal of the afternoon
with 66 seconds left in overtime to lift Eastern University Men's
Lacrosse to a critical 9-8 overtime win over the visiting Lycoming
College Warriors. Johnson's tally came after the Warriors scored twice
in the final eight minutes of play to send the game into overtime.
The
game started in a steady rain, and it looked as though the Eagles might
run away with the game early as they jumped to a 3-0 lead in the
opening ten minutes of play. Dave Darling opened the scoring with a shot
on the crease from Chris Farrar four and a half minutes into the game.
Johnson tallied his first on another Farrar feed, and Matt Soldano
banged home his first of three on the day in a two man advantage
situation. Lycoming (6-6, 5-2 MAC) controlled the next tow face-offs and
capitalized nearly immediately to trim the Eastern lead to 3-2.
Soldano
restored the two-goal edge with a shot in transition to close the first
frame. The Eagles, up 4-2, held an 8-5 edge in shots and controlled
much of the possession through the first 15 minutes. The second quarter
looked nearly nothing like the first. Lycoming fired 17 shots and
outscored the Eagles 3-1 in the frame to tie the score at 5-5. The
damage could have been worse, but Eastern goalie Aaron Benz turned away
12 of his 16 saves in the period.
"Can I just say something about
Benz?" Johnson asked after the game. "Yeah, I don't really even know
what to say, except he totally bailed us out in the second period. He
was awesome." Johnson's assessment could have extended beyond mere
shot-stopping as the sophomore goalie helped the Eagles to succeed on
25-27 clears through the afternoon.
The Eagles scored their only
goal of the period on a man-up goal from Matt Wagner on another Johnson
feed. Wagner, who missed much of the early part of the year with injury
is working his way back into form and has scored in each of the last two
games. The Eagles finished 3-5 in man-up opportunities and held
Lycoming to 1-6.
Stephen Romano scored his third of the day early
in the third period to put the guests up, but Soldano answered on a feed
from Johnson and Darling fired a blistering shot from the perimeter in
another man-up situation restore the Eastern lead. Johnson was credited
with his third helper of the day. Johnson gave the Eagles a two-goal
cushion on another Farrar feed early in the fourth, and the momentum
seemed to be going the Eagles' way.
A two-minute penalty midway
through the period gave the visitors renewed hope, and Romano put home
his fourth to close the gap, and Ben Walker rolled in his second of the
day to tie the game with three minutes left. The Eagles had the final
chance of regulation, but Zac Ivy's shot from 12 yards outdid not cross
the goal-line until after the horn and the game went to overtime.
"AJ
[Ryan]had a tough day all day," Head Coach Brandon Childs said after
the game, "but he got the face-off win in overtime." It was not as
simple as getting the first possession and scoring. The Eagles had the
first two shots, but the Warriors earned possession and had a chance to
score, but a moving screen on the ball gave the Eagles the ball again
and the home side took advantage.
"Sols [Matt Soldano] made a
great pass," Johnson said afterward, "it started with a strong dodge,
and I was the fade guy. I had been open a lot there during the day, but
it is a tough pass to make.Sols found me, and Eric Nelson had been
telling me all day to shoot low skippers. I did it and that was it."
Johsnon's goal gives the Eagles their first win over Lycoming in program
history and also puts Eastern in a favorable position to earn a home
playoff game.
"Having lost two in row," Johnson said, "this was a
huge game for us. We wanted to make a statement today." Johnson and
Childs both spoke of the work done by defenseman Ryan Cassidy in keying
the Eastern defense. "Ryan is one of the most intense guys on the field
the whole game," Johnson said, "He is a guy that we look up to and don't
want to disappoint. He had a great game today."
