Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/12/16
From Press Release
Behind junior Nick Aponte’s game winning goal, Penn State men’s lacrosse (5-2) knocked off No. 8/7 Harvard (4-2) 13-12, for a thrilling overtime victory Saturday afternoon at the Penn State Lacrosse Field.
Aponte and senior TJ Sanders led the team with a pair of hat tricks while freshman Grant Ament (Haverford School) finished second on the team with two goals and three assists on three shots. Along with the game winner, Aponte also tied for first on the team with three assists for a team-high six points.
A total of eight Nittany Lions found the scoring column, as junior Mike Sutton (St. Augustine Prep), redshirt junior Matt Florence, junior Dan Craig, sophomore Josh Wellman and freshman Kevin Hill all totaled one goal apiece.
Wellman highlighted the game with a career-high outing from the faceoff “x,” winning 18-of-29 attempts, while also collecting 10 ground balls. Sophomore Mike Aronow and freshman Chris Sabia (Haverford School) led the defense with two and three caused turnovers, respectively. Senior James Chakey (Haverford School) also logged four ground balls, while Aronow had two.
Sophomore goalie Will Schreiner (Avon Grove) earned his fifth win in goal for the Nittany Lions, while also setting a career-high mark with 10 saves.
With Harvard leading 2-0 early in the game, Aponte sparked a 6-1 scoring streak to send the Nittany Lions into the second quarter leading 6-3. The Crimson looked to hold off the run with a goal following Aponte’s first of the game, but two more from Sanders and one from Hill, Florence and Ament rounded out the strike for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State continued its momentum into the second quarter as Wellman won the faceoff and charged straight for the net, scoring his first collegiate goal to lift the Nittany Lions up by four, 7-3 with 14:51 remaining in the first half. Ament added another to widen the PSU scoring streak to seven straight, as Penn State pulled ahead by as many as five, 8-3, with 9:57 left in the second quarter.
Harvard came storming back, using a 5-2 run to cut the Penn State advantage back to two, 10-8, scoring two of the goals in the span within the last 2:20 seconds of the half.
The Nittany Lions held the Crimson without a goal in the third quarter as Sutton and Craig scored back-to-back goals within exactly two minutes of each other to build the Penn State advantage back to four, 12-8, with 7:30 remaining in the third quarter.
Penn State could not shake the Crimson for good, as Harvard held Penn State without a goal for 23:30, scoring four goals in the fourth quarter to tie the score, 12-12, with 4:04 remaining in regulation. The two teams exchanged turnovers for one last shot at possession within the final minute of play, but neither squad put away a goal as time expired.
Penn State held off early pressure from the Crimson in the opening part of the overtime period, but Ament found Aponte for the game winner with 2:59 remaining to secure the win.
Delaware 12, Binghamton 11, OT
Make it two straight thrilling comeback wins in one week for the Blue Hens.
Down 11-7 heading into the final quarter, the University of Delaware men’s lacrosse team rallied with four goals in the fourth stanza to send the game into overtime and won it when redshirt freshman Andrew Romagnoli scored for the fourth time just 39 seconds in.
The Blue Hens (3-5), now winners of two straight and three of their last four, sealed the heroics for the second time in five days following a 6-5 comeback win at Manhattan on Tuesday that gave Delaware head coach Bob Shillinglaw his 300th victory UD. With the win Saturday, Shillinglaw’s 301 victories at Delaware are more than any coach at a single school in NCAA Division I history.
Few of those victories were more thrilling than this one. Senior co-captain Steve DeLargy scored twice in the final 8:07, including the goal with 15 seconds left in regulation that sent the game into overtime. After Tyler Mardian won the faceoff, the Hens held the ball until Romagnoli’s game-winner 39 seconds in won it and set off a wild celebration.
“I am so proud of this group,” said Shillinglaw, who passed former UMass head coach Dick Garber for most wins by a coach at an NCAA I school. “They just kept fighting and grinding the whole game. The defense did a great job in the fourth quarter shutting Binghamton out and we made plays which created goals. I am very excited for the team.”
DeLargy finished with three goals on the day while Paul Major (Spring-Ford) scored twice and Jake Levine added a goal and as assist. Romagnoli also added an assist and Hen goalkeeper Parker Ferrigan (six saves) made the rarest of lacrosse plays when he scored a goal from 60 yards out midway through the second period. Sam Walsh came up big on faceoffs once again for the Hens, winning 11 of 18 tries.
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