The Weekend in Stick: Tougher Than It Is (Part II)

Part I gave you all the big stories from the weekend; Part II is all about the little stories that are notable and adorable in easily digestible form.

ELSEWHERE

Johns Hopkins raced out to a 10-1 lead against Albany and essentially cruised to a 13-8 victory over the Great Danes; Albany played a miserable first period, one that sunk the Danes as the Jays pounded Albany early with an incessant offensive explosions and suffocating defense . . . Denver needed overtime to put away Villanova, 9-8; Jeremy Noble had the game-winner late in the extra period after pushing the ball past Dan Willis, shaking free from Chris Piccirilli; the Wildcats are, once again, stronger than their record . . . Bellarmine has now won consecutive games following a 10-9 overtime win against High Point; Stephen Soriano had the game-winner for the Knights after winning the opening face-off of overtime and scoring just six seconds into the extra session . . . Hofstra and Siena engaged in a land war, an eventual 7-6 victory for the Pride; Hofstra's grind-it-into-nothingness style has paid dividends for the Pride this year . . . Rutgers hung around but Princeton pulled away late in a 15-11 decision for the Tigers; Tom Schreiber became the first midfielder in Ivy League history to have 100 goals 90 assists in his career . . . Quinnipiac put the screws to Monmouth in a 17-9 win; it was a battle of the MAAC's two newest teams, and the Hawks have a lot of development ahead of them if they want to keep pace with the Bobcats . . . Bucknell annihilated Mount St. Mary's 16-6; the Mountaineers remain winless on the year and are mere chum for sharks in the water . . . Fairfield edged Michigan in the Big House, 9-8; the Wolverines pulled within one with 14:22 remaining in the game but couldn't seem to dig themselves out of the four-goal deficit Michigan faced at the half . . . Georgetown quietly dispatched Providence, 10-8; the Hoyas led by as many as seven but almost gave all of the lead back to the Friars after Providence used a six-goal run in the fourth quarter to pull within one with under a minute to play.

MORE ELSEWHERE

The Catamounts were no match for a motivated Stony Brook team in a 10-7 win for the Seawolves; Stony Brook is incredibly weird (nobody wants to sit with them during lunch) but are now 1-1 in America East play . . . The outcome was never seriously in doubt in a 12-7 win for Robert Morris against Wagner; it could have been a lot worse for the Seahawks if Nicholas Gibaldi didn't make 20 saves against Bobby Mo . . . Holy Cross picked up a nice Patriot League win against Lafayette; the Crusaders aren't likely making the Patriot League Tournament, but a win is a win is a win . . . Jacksonville finally has an Atlantic Sun victory following a 14-5 curb-stomping of VMI; I still have no idea how the Keydets beat Air Force this season . . . 500 people showed up to watch Canisius drop Manhattan, 9-4; the MAAC is a beautiful shade of everything-is-the-same . . . Sacred Heart stunned Hobart in Geneva, 10-9; the Pioneers took their first lead just before the half and held on for the victory despite a late three-goal push from the Statesmen . . . Yale unloaded on Dartmouth, 16-10; the Elis received scoring from 10 players and did what teams do to the Big Green -- bring pain . . . A seven-goal fourth quarter turned a 6-9 deficit into a 13-10 win for Richmond over Furman; the Paladins have to be chewing on tin foil after that result . . . Penn continued their subtle march toward NCAA Tournament inclusion following a 10-8 conference win against Brown; the Ivy League remains an awesome mess that never stops . . . Army escaped from Boston with an 8-7 win against the Terriers; Boston University has surprisingly challenged against some strong opponents this season.

EVEN MORE ELSEWHERE

Air Force carpet-bombed Mercer in a 19-6 win; Mercer is probably better than a 13-goal victim, but that's still a tough result for the Bears . . . Marist is in a bit of a tailspin after falling to Detroit, 11-12; at 1-3 in MAAC play (the Red Foxes' losses are to Detroit, Manhattan, and Siena) and need some wins and luck to change their league fortunes . . . Ohio State built an eight-goal lead going into the half and pushed it out to 10 late in the third quarter in a 15-9 win over Delaware; Jesse King had seven assists in the Buckeyes' win . . . Albany built a big ol' lead on Hartford and never looked back in a 15-11 win against the Hawks; Hartford is now 0-2 in America East play and needs a win against UMBC this coming weekend to change their reality . . . It took two overtimes but Marquette beat St. John's in Queens, 11-10; the win marks the Eagles' second Big East victory of the season; the Johnnies could miss the Big East Tournament if they can't generate some momentum against Denver and Villanova . . . Binghamton earned a valuable America East win against UMBC, 13-7; the Bearcats had a pretty impressive 1-1 week, falling to Syracuse mid-week and thumping the Retrievers on Sunday.

PUMMELING AND PUMMELING AND PUMMELING

Your best individual performances from the weekend:

• Backstop Circus: Austin Geisler (17, High Point); Tommy Cordts (15, Siena); Gill Conners (15, Quinnipiac); Austin Kaut (17, Penn State); Hayden Johnstone (19, Stony Brook); Nicholas Gibaldi (20, Wagner); Tyler White (16, Towson); and Jason Weber (23, Detroit). Weber earns high honors this week for stopping Marist and giving the Titans a lift.
• Five-Goal Club and More: Dan Lomas (5, High Point); Ryan Ambler (5, Princeton); Dylan Webster (5, Quinnipiac); Ryan Keenan (5, Quinnipiac); Mike Sutton (5, Penn State); Ben McIntosh (5, Drexel); Mike Crampton (8, Air Force); Shayne Adams (6, Detroit); Deemer Class (5, Duke); Dan Keane (5, Delaware); and Miles Thompson (5, Albany).
• The Power Plant: Double-Digit Point Generation: None. Take a lap.
• The Lyle Thompson Prism of Doom Award: Let's go with Deemer Class of Duke. His five-and-two effort against Notre Dame's nightmare of a defense was impressive and fun and kind of creepy. (Lyle went three-and-one against Johns Hopkins and one-and-five against Hartford. Some days are better for serial killing than others.)

Do you have anything else to add from this weekend? The comments, they are yours.