ST. DAVIDS, Pa.- On a day most suited for hockey or
bobsledding, Eastern University Men's Lacrosse opened the 2013 campaign
with a 9-7 non-league win over McDaniel College. San Diego native Zac
Ivy scored twice and added three assists. After falling behind 70
seconds into the contest, Eagles tied the game at 1-1 on Ivy's first of
the day and did not trail again the rest of the way.
Ivy's first goal came from a tight angle after a solid offensive
possession for the Eagles.
Eastern added to the lead on a great piece of
transition attacking following a McDaniel Turnover. Shawn Farmer
created the loose ball with a stout body check at the top of the box,
and Brendon Stauber was in the right spot to pick up one of his eight
ground balls. Stouber fired the ball forward and each of Eastern's three
attackmen touched the ball in a three second sequence. Chris Farrar
caught the ball and fired it to Ivy at the right edge of the crease. Ivy
threw a quick shot fake to bring the goalie across the cage and flipped
the ball to Grant Ferguson on the far side of the crease. Ferguson
touched home his first of three on the day.
The visiting Green Terror tied the contest with 1:45 to play in the
opening quarter, and the game was tied at 2-2 after 15 minutes. McDaniel
had a 7-5 edge in first period shots.
The Eagles took advantage
of a their first man-up situation of the afternoon when Ivy powered home
an Eric Waibel pass for a 3-2 lead with just less than 10 minutes to
play in the half. Two minutes later, the Terror evened the score at 3-3
before Waibel responded with his first of two on the afternoon to put
the Eagles back up going into the half.
McDaniel scored on its
second man-up chance of the afternoon to tie the game early in second
half, but the Eagles answered just over a minute later with a
highlight-reel goal. Farrar found Ferguson on the doorstep, and the
Rochester, N.Y. native threw a lightning-quick series of fakes to move
the goalie before dropping in his second of the day. Waibel scored his
second of the afternoon off another Ivy pass to give the Eagles a
two-goal lead at the end of the third quarter.
The final quarter
started perfectly for the Eagles. AJ Ryan won the faceoff and Brendan
Stouber controlled the ground ball. Stouber flipped the ball to Ryan who
fired a pass to Farmer for a turnaround shot off the left post for a
7-4 lead.
It looked like the Eagles were going to have a chance
to ice the game up three goals when Jordan Norris picked up ground ball
off the post and returned the pass back to Aaron Benz. The Terror forced
a turnover and took advantage of a quick restart to close the gap to
7-5. To make matters worse for the Eagles, the Terror picked up
possession and a man-up chance on a a foul by Norris.
The
man-down unit got a save from Benz and killed the penalty, and it seemed
that the Eagles would stretch the lead back to three goals when Ivy
wheeled and fired a left-handed overhead shot from close range off the inside of the right
pipe. His shot appeared to cross the goal line and hit the other pipe on its
way out, but the referee on the spot ruled that the ball had not crossed the line.
Terror goalie Christian Dallmus smothered the ball in the circle, and McDaniel was able to complete the clear. William Clary scored his second of the afternoon to close
the gap back to a single tally at 7-6 with 8:36 on the clock.
The
Eagles lost the ensuing draw, but Ron Johnson popped the ball free from a
Terror attackman to give the Eagles possession again. Johnson forced
four turnovers on the afternoon. Though the Eagles executed a clear, the
work was not yet done, as the ball popped free just after entering the
box. Sophomore midfielder Andrew Travers dug out the ground ball against
several McDaniel defenders to keep the possession alive for the Eagles.
The ball found its way behind the goal to Farrar, and the senior
attackman found a streaking Ferguson in front of the goal. After scoring
with finesse on his first two, Ferguson used power on his final goal of
the afternoon. Farrar now has 54 career assists.
The Eastern
excitement, however, was short-lived. Ryan Gillen won the faceoff for
the Terror and flipped the ball to James Gibbons. Gibbons drew the
defense to the right side and found Pat Woglom all alone on the doorstep
for his third of the day.
Up a single goal with less than four
minutes to play, the Eagles needed a big play from their defense, and
they got one from Tyler Gehlhaus. The first-year defender pried a ball
loose with a good stick check and picked up the ground ball to give his
team possession. The Eagles were able to clear the zone and get a
timeout with three minutes to play in the game.
After a series of
passes, Eastern was put on the timer and had to go to goal. Will Johnson
battled to get the ball behind the goal and found Ivy. Ivy looked like
he was going to roll to the cage, but instead flipped a pass to Matt
Soldano ten yards out. Soldano fired a shot just under the crossbar to
put the Eagles up two goals with two minutes to play.
"Our
leadership came through today," Head Coach Kevin Wallace said after the
game, "Ivy made plays, that last goal by Soldano was a huge play, and I
felt like our older guys helped us to keep our composure. We will need
to build on that."
It is the fourth five-point day of Ivy's career. The senior attackman had a very memorable six-point day against Misericordia last spring, and he had two five goal games in his freshman campaign. It is Ferguson's fourth career hat trick.
Benz made ten saves to pick up his 31st career win.
The Eagles lost 8-6 at McDaniel last season.
The result today could prove to be an important one for the Eagles, who
will need to build a better resume than all the other Pool B schools in
order to gain entrance to the NCAA Tournament this year. The Eagles will
still compete for a Freedom Conference Championship, but the league
does not have an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. In that, every
game becomes an important game in trying to convince the NCAA Tournament
Committee that the Eagles deserve to return to the NCAA Tournament. As
opposed to the Pool C or at-large bids to the tournament, there are Pool
B bids reserved for teams in conferences without AQ's.
Eastern (1-0) returns to action on Saturday at home against Swarthmore.
Box Score
