Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/4/20
From Press Releases
The No. 8 Ursinus College men’s lacrosse team earned its fifth straight win to start the season on Wednesday, defeating Montclair State on the road, 18-11.
The Bears went into the half tied, but Ben Minardi (Perkiomen Valley) scored five goals in the third quarter to lead the team to victory. Minardi led the Ursinus attack with a double hat-trick, scoring a team-high six goals in the second-half alone while Hakan Atillasoy (Harriton) and Tyler Falco (Lower Merion) each put together a hat-trick with three goals each as well.
The Bears started slow on the road last week at Eastern and did so again on Wednesday. Ursinus and Montclair State traded goals to start the game as the Red Hawks struck first before Atillasoy and Alex Dean (Haddonfield-NJ) scored back-to-back goals to put the Bears up 2-1. Montclair State answered and scored four straight to take a 5-2 lead into the second quarter.
It didn’t take long for Ursinus to find its groove in the second. Just 2:28 into the frame, Tommy Reinhart (Wilson) found Falco to bring the Bears within two and then Atillasoy made it 5-4, scoring his second goal of the day. The Red Hawks responded to regain their two-goal cushion, but the Bears came right back as Julian Castilleja (Radnor) scored his first goal of the season and Bobby McClure (Haverford High) tied the game with his 125th career goal, 6-6.
With six minutes remaining, Montclair State re-took the lead to go up 7-6. Goalkeeper Chris Portzelt made a pair of key saves to keep the game within striking distance and finally with 58 seconds left in the half, Atillasoy completed the hat-trick and tied the game for a fourth time. Atillasoy’s goal with 58 seconds to go marked the fourth goal this season that the Bears have scored in the final minute of a quarter.
Ursinus carried that momentum coming out of the half. It took just 62 seconds for the Bears to score, this one off the stick of Minardi and then Sam Mutz (Strath Haven) scored 48 seconds later to take a 9-7 lead. Falco made it three goals on three shots for the Bears before Minari scored his second of the quarter, this time playing with a man up, to give Ursinus a commanding. four-goal advantage.
It didn’t stop there. The two sides went five minutes without a goal after scoring four in four minutes, but Minardi made it three goals in the third quarter to give the Bears a five-goal, 12-7, lead. The Red Hawks finally responded with 3:22 remaining, but Minardi came right back and found the back of the net less than a minute later for his fourth in just over 11 minutes. The senior netted his fifth with 1:25 left to give the Bears a 14-8 lead heading into the final quarter.
Minardi found the back of the net for a sixth time to begin the final frame. Montclair State scored three straight before Tre Tillman wrapped up the Bears win with his second goal of the season.
Minardi is the second Bears attacker to score six goals in a game this season, matching Atillasoy who scored six at home against Mary Washington. The senior scored more goals on Wednesday (6) than he had combined in the four games prior (5) and now has a career-high 11 goals on the year.
Widener 17, Emerson 7
The Pride (4-0) defeated the Lions at Franklin Field to remain undefeated and match its best start in school history. The last time the Pride started 4-0 was in 1981 when it took down Drew, Ursinus, Upsala, and Wilkes in its first four games under head coach Ed Dinski.
Connor Heisman (Bishop Shanahan) continued his hot start to the season, leading all players with five goals on the day. His 24 points through four contests leads the team. Paz Gismondi (West Deptford-NJ) dished out four assists and notched the first goal of the game for Widener. John Dunbar (Appoquinimink-DE) recorded his second career hat trick with three scores of his own.
Neumann 10, Manhattenville 7
Drew Conlon sparked the offense with a team high four points (3 g, 1 a), while Colin Blake (2 g, 1 a, Springfield-Delco) and Kyle Daly (2 g) each added a pair of goals. Chris Augustine (Garnet Valley) had a goal and an assist in the win, while Brendan Risley (Ridley) was a monster in net with 17 huge saves on the day. Jack Newswanger (St. Elizabeth-DE) was also a huge factor in the victory for the Knights, winning 15-of-20 draws and picking up a team-high six ground balls.
Delaware Valley 16, Gwynedd Mercy 7
Seniors PJ Rafferty (Avon Grove) and Dylan Brasch (Clearview Regional-NJ) combined for 17 points to lead the Aggies.
Rafferty, the program’s all-time leader in points scored, etched his name into the program’s record book again with a single-game best 10 points this afternoon on four goals and six assists. For Brasch, his seven points on four goals and three helpers was a career-high, as he and Rafferty hooked up for five tallies.
Jacob Dzierzgowski (Washington Twp-NJ) had three goals for Gwynedd Mercy.
DeSales 18, Moravian 6
Junior Zach Bowen (Appoquinimink-DE) scored five goals to lead DeSales past local rival Moravian for the Bulldogs fourth straight win on Wednesday afternoon.
Swarthmore 17, Arcadia 8
Austin Chang scored six goals, Jake Ross (Strath Haven) had four and Ryan Izquierdo won 17 of 22 faceoffs and scored once for the Garnet.