By Reed Dempsey
Writer
Holy Cross scored twice in the final five minutes of play to tie the game at nine, but an unassisted score by Peter Burke ’14 with just 22 seconds remaining sealed the eighth win of the season for the men’s lacrosse team this past Saturday in Worcester, Mass, as well as a No. 13 ranking in the national media poll.
Midfielder David Dickson ’15 opened the day’s scoring just a minute and a half into the game as the Bison were able to take advantage of an extra-man opportunity. Two minutes later Dickson fed Todd Heritage ’14 to extend the score to 2-0.
In an effort to slow the nation’s most efficient shooting team, the Crusaders had to limit the time that the Bison had the ball on offense.
“Holy Cross had a week to prepare for this game and they game-planned for us very well,” Dickson said. “They had long possessions on their side of the field which gave our offense limited touches.”
Over the final minutes of the first quarter, the teams traded tallies before the Crusaders cut the deficit to one on a last-second goal.
The opening eight minutes of the second quarter saw three different Bison find the back of the net, as Chase Bailey ’13, John Scally ’12 and Billy Eisenreich ’12 brought the lead to 6-2. The Crusaders defense then held the Bison scoreless over the next 28 minutes, as their offense slowly chipped away at the lead. With 33 seconds left in the third quarter, the Crusaders tied the game at six on a man-up opportunity.
A penalty on Holy Cross with less than 10 minutes left in the game gave the Bison an opportunity to regain the lead. Eisenreich found Heritage to put the Bison up 7-6. Holy Cross tied the game at seven just 32 seconds later, but the second goals of the day by Dickson and Billy Mattimore ’13 gave a two-goal advantage in favor of the Bison with just under six minutes in regulation.
Holy Cross fought back over the next four minutes to tie the game for the third time. The Crusaders had possession and a chance to take the lead for the first time, but an errant shot gave the Bison possession. The Orange and Blue were able to successfully clear the ball to their offensive side of the field before taking a timeout. Burke was then able to find the back of the net to return the Bison lead to one.
The Crusaders won the ensuing faceoff and raced into the offensive zone for a shot, but Kyle Feeney ’13 was right there for the save, his 13th of the game.
Following the win, the Bison moved up to No. 13 in the national media poll and No. 15 in the coaches poll. They were ranked No. 16 in both polls last week.
After the hard-fought win, the Bison now turn their attention to tomorrow’s game against Army. Army is 4-6, but five of its six losses have come against teams ranked top-20 nationally.
“Although their record may not show it, Army is a very capable team and one that is definitely good enough to end our winning streak,” Dickson said. “We will need to match their intensity and physicality in order to be successful and come out of this game with a victory.”
The game is set to begin at 12 p.m. Saturday at Christy Matthewson-Memorial Stadium and will air on the CBS Sports Network.