Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/6/17
From Press Release
In a game that will go down in the history books as one of the most memorable contests in Ivy League history, fourth-seeded Penn (7-6, 3-3) fell in a heartbreaker to No. 1 Yale (9-5, 5-1), 13-12, in four overtimes as part of the Ivy League Tournament semifinal on Friday night in New Haven, Conn.
The contest marked the longest in Ivy League Tournament and Penn men’s lacrosse history, and it was perhaps fitting that it occurred during the historic 100th season of Quaker men’s lacrosse.
With the defeat, Penn finishes 2017 with a 7-6 overall record and 3-3 mark in Ancient Eight contests. Yale goes on to host No. 3 seeded Brown on Sunday for the Ivy League Championship at Noon.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
*The four overtime game was the longest in the 100 season history of Penn men’s lacrosse. The Quakers have twice played three extra periods against Cornell (2015) and Yale (2011), but have never made it to four. All three of the longest overtimes in Penn history have come during the Mike Murphy era.
*Goalkeeper Reed Junkin made 13 saves in the contest, including five during the four overtime periods and several against point-blank shots down the stretch.
*Richie Lenskold and Chris Santangelo combined to go 14-of-31 (.451) from the faceoff X on the night, but were hampered by winning just 2-of-10 from the fourth quarter onward.
*In an overall clean game, each side had just nine turnovers apiece in over 73 minutes of action.
*Penn was led by the four-point performances of Kevin McGeary (Malvern Prep, 2g, 2a) and JJ McBride (4a). Yale’s Ben Reeves had a game-high six points (3g, 3a).
*Philly grads made other big contributions for Penn – Reilly Hupfeldt (Haverford School) had three goals, Adam Goldner (Malvern Prep) had two goals, Keyveat Postell (Haverford School) had a goal and an assist and Connor Keating (Haverford School) had four groundballs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Tied at 12-12 heading into overtime, neither team could gather more than a two-goal advantage through 60 minutes of regulation before needing extra time to decide the contest. The Quakers had trouble finding possessions at the start of the winner-take-all periods, but were bolstered by terrific defensive play down the stretch. Sophomore goalkeeper Reed Junkin made five saves during the four overtime periods, including three at point-blank range to keep the Quakers fighting.
Penn had their best chance in OT2 when Simon Mathias’ effort was saved by Yale’s Phil Huffard with 2:30 to play in the frame, and the Quakers turned away a Yale EMO during that stretch to force a third stanza of extra time.
The game-winner would come 1:04 into the fourth overtime when Yale’s Joseph Sessa connected on a Ben Reeves helper to claim the contest, 13-12.
A high-scoring first quarter saw a total of 11 goals for both sides, and the Quakers twice came back from a two-tally deficit in the period to pull away 6-5 at the start of the game. Richie Lenskold was the difference maker, winning 4-of-6 attempts from the FOGO spot and combined with Adam Goldner’s two goals and JJ McBride’s three assists, Penn was able to take advantage of their opportunities in the frame.
Both sides settled in the second, and the Quakers and Elis had long possessions in 6-on-6 sets for the quarter. The Red and Blue were first to strike when Mathias nabbed his second goal of the game, but the Elis responded off an EMO chance to make it a one score match at 7-6 with 14:11 on the clock. Following a nearly 10 minute respite, Yale tied the game off a fast break in transition when Jason Alessi found the back of the net to make it 7-all, but the Red and Blue closed the half from a Keyveat Postell tally as Penn took a slight 8-7 lead at intermission.
Yale got things going coming out of halftime and notched the first three goals of the period to turn an 8-7 deficit into a 10-8 advantage off of scores from Reeves, Brendan Mackie, and Eric Scott with 8:01 left in the quarter. The Quakers, after playing stout defense, broke a 12-minute scoring drought when Postell found McGeary to get within one at 10-9 as Penn ended the third down one with 15 minutes to play.
Penn wouldn’t go away easy, and bridged the third and fourth quarters with a three-goal run to pull ahead 11-10 with 10:32 left to play in the contest. Joe Licciardi and Reilly Hupfeldt were the selected targets, and combed with stingy defense the Red and Blue kept the Yale attack at bay. After a long offensive possession, Yale’s Matt Gaudet tied the game at 11-11 with 5:50 left to play, but Hupfeldt had the answer for the go-ahead goal with 3:12 on the clock.
Reeves tied the contest at 12-all with 53 second left in regulation to send the contest into overtime, where the Elis ultimately pulled off the dramatic win to earn their berth into the Ivy League Championship contest.