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Cue the J Cole, because nobody’s perfect in NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse:
College Crosse Scoreboard for April 6, 2018
| Box Score | Game Recap | Next Game |
|---|---|---|
| Box Score | Game Recap | Next Game |
| UMBC 11, Albany 7 | UMBC Recap | UMBC (3-7, 1-2): @ Binghamton (4/14); Albany (10-1, 3-1): vs. Binghamton (4/20) |
| Denver 22, Villanova 6 | Denver Recap | Denver (8-2, 2-0): vs. St. John's (4/14); Villanova (8-3, 1-1): vs. Georgetown (4/14) |
| Fairfield 5, Hofstra 4 | Fairfield Recap | Fairfield (4-8, 1-1): vs. Drexel (4/14); Hofstra (5-5, 1-1): vs. Delaware (4/14) |
| UMass 9, Delaware 8 | UMass Recap | UMass (7-4, 2-0: vs. Towson (4/14); Delaware (4-6, 1-1): @ Hofstra (4/14) |
| Towson 17, Drexel 9 | Towson Recap | Towson (4-6, 1-1): @ UMass (4/14); Drexel (4-6. 0-2): @ Fairfield (4/14) |
Game Recaps
UMBC 11, Albany 7: Well, we weren’t expecting this. The Retrievers hadn’t scored more than nine goals entering this game and were missing their entire attack unit, while the Great Danes scored 10 or more goals in every game this season. That was until Friday night.
Tied at two with five seconds left in the opening quarter, UMBC’s Gunnar Schimoler gave the Retrievers a 3-2 entering the second quarter and started what would be a 6-0 run. UMBC didn’t allow a single goal in the second quarter and held the Great Danes scoreless until the third quarter for a span of 26:11. Albany made a decent push early in the fourth quarter, cutting UMBC’s lead to four goals, but Billy Nolan and Ben Keller ended any hope of a comeback. That snapped Albany’s 31-game regular season conference winning streak.
Nolan had one of his best games in his career with a hat-trick and two assists on 11 shots to go along with two caused turnovers. Goalie Tommy Linger stopped 16 shots in a big performance for the freshman netminder.
Kyle McClancy led the Great Danes, who were without Connor Fields and Justin Reh, with a hat-trick on nine shots. Tehoka Nanticoke also had three goals, but they all came in the fourth quarter. Two of them came in the final minute of action.
Albany is off next week, which should give time for Fields and Reh to be fully healthy in time for the postseason.
Denver 22, Villanova 6: Well, we also weren’t expecting this. Denver, who scored only six goals last week, decided to go off and put an 18 spot on Nova in the FIRST HALF. They weren’t pleased with how many were counting them out after the Georgetown game, and neither was Ethan Walker. The sophomore lit up the Wildcats with eight goals and an assist, good for the third highest offensive performance in program history. Without Connor Donahue, freshman Ted Sullivan stepped up with four goals and an assist, his first four goals of his collegiate career. Austin French put up a trio of goals and assists in the win.
Trevor Baptiste went 27-of-30 from the face-off X with 17 ground balls, a goal, and an assist. He set a career-high and the DU school record for face-off wins.
With the win, the Pios take the lead in the Big East.
.@BIGEASTdigital Highlights from [4/4] Denver's 22-6 win at [7/7] Villanova on Friday night. #DU1NATION #NOVAvDEN pic.twitter.com/F7d1W8TDAM
— Denver Mens Lacrosse (@DU_MLAX) April 7, 2018
Fairfield 5, Hofstra 4: All three CAA games took place last night. In a low-scoring affair in Hempstead, the Stags used a 3-0 fourth quarter to get past Hofstra. The Pride scored three straight goals to end the third quarter before Collin Burke his two goals to tie the game up at four. With 21 seconds left, Travis Ford scored his ninth of the year to give Fairfield their first conference win.
UMass 9, Delaware 8: It looked like the Blue Hens would improve to 2-0 in conference play, jumping out to a 6-2 lead with 7:10 left in the third quarter. That is until UMass flipped the switch on offense with a 3-0 run and a 4-0 run separate by a Blue Hen goal to take a two-goal lead. Charlie Kitchen cut the Minutemen lead to one with 40 seconds left and it looked like the Blue Hens would tie the game on a late ride with four seconds left. But Mark Bieda was called for a slash, ending the comeback bid for the Blue Hens.
Jeff Trainor had three goals for UMass while Noah Rak went 14-of-18 from the face-off X with 11 groundballs and two goals. Dean DiSimone had a hat-trick and an assist for the Blue Hens.
Towson 17, Drexel 9: The Tigers, without Jon Mazza and Sid Ewell, earned their first CAA win over Drexel at home. Towson started out with a 3-0 lead before Drexel tied things up later in the quarter. The Tigers scored five of the six goals in the second quarter to take an 8-4 halftime lead. But after a Jake McLean goal to make it 9-4, the Dragons roared back with four straight goals to make it a one-goal affair in the final frame. But enter Johnny Giuffreda, who scored four of Towson’s eight goals, three in a span of 3:58, in the final 12 minutes of the game to pull away from Drexel. He finished with five goals on the night.
Matt Sovero and Brendan Sunday each scored hat-tricks and Chad Patterson stepped up on close defense with three caused turnovers. Marshal King spearheaded Drexel’s efforts with three goals and two assists.
Three Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️: Johnny Giuffreda, A, Towson - Four of his five tallies came in the final quarter with Drexel threatening a comeback. He stepped up without Jon Mazza and looks to continue to lead the Tiger offense as CAA play continues.
⭐️⭐️: Ethan Walker, A, Denver - Eight goals and one assist in a huge win over Villanova shut up critics (myself included) about whether or not Denver’s offense was down. Looks like that’s not the case.
⭐: Tommy Linger, G, UMBC - Backstopping your team to an upset of the #1 team and holding them to under 10 goals is unbelievable. The freshman netminder made seven saves in a fourth quarter that Albany began to put more pressure on UMBC. Even without Fields or Reh, Linger put on a show.