By Reed Dempsey
Writer
The men’s lacrosse team saw its eight-game win streak come to an end after a tightly contested 6-5 double overtime loss to Patriot League rival Army last Saturday. The Orange and Blue were able to rebound from the loss with an 8-3 win against the University of Pennsylvania on Tuesday night.
The Orange and Blue hosted the Black Knights this past Saturday in what would become an instant classic. Going into the matchup, the Bison had faced Army five times over the past three seasons holding a 3-2 advantage, with each game being decided by two goals or less.
Three minutes into the game, the Black Knights opened the day’s scoring with a unassisted tally. The Bison held Army scoreless over the next 15 minutes as David Dickson ’15 found Todd Heritage ’14 to tie the game and Tom Black ’14 took a feed from Ryan Joseph ’15 to give the Bison their first lead of the day.
Just a minute and a half later, the Black Knights responded with a goal of their own to tie the game at two. The Bison had a chance to take back the lead with a man-up opportunity at the three-minute mark in the second quarter, but were unable to capitalize, leaving the score tied heading into halftime.
After play resumed in the second half, Billy Eisenreich ’12 found the back of the net for an unassisted goal with 12:30 remaining in the third quarter. The Bison defense held Army scoreless for another 15-minute stretch before the Black Knights tied the game at three. Heritage broke the tie a minute later with his 32nd goal of the season.
Army scored twice early in the fourth quarter to take its first lead since the opening minutes of the game and had several chances to extend its lead to two, but goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 was there each time for the save.
The Bison gained possession with just over two minutes left in regulation and advanced the ball into their offensive zone. After a wide shot by Dickson, Heritage was pushed from behind as he chased down the ball, giving the Bison a 30-second man-up opportunity. After a bit of trickery following the restart, Eisenreich found a wide open Chase Bailey ’13 on the crease to tie the game at five. The Orange and Blue had a shot with 23 seconds left, but a save by the Army goaltender sent the game to overtime.
Following a scoreless first period of overtime, highlighted by stifling defensive play, the Bison took possession of the ball on the opening faceoff of the second overtime, and immediately threw the ball away, allowing for Army to race the ball down the field where a bounce shot found its way past Feeney for the game-winner.
The Bison welcomed the University of Pennsylvania to Lewisburg on Tuesday night looking to avenge Saturday’s loss. Senior attackman Eisenreich tallied three goals to lead the Bison, bringing his total to 28 on the season.
The Orange and Blue scored the first four goals of the game before the Quakers cut the lead to three with four minutes remaining in the second quarter. With just two seconds left in the first half, Eisenreich found the back of the net on an unassisted goal, his second of the day.
Coming off a solid performance on Saturday, the Bison defense was impressive again on Tuesday as they held the Quakers to just 24 shots.
UPenn scored the only goal of the third quarter, but the Bison responded with two goals early in the fourth quarter extending their lead to five. UPenn ended its 20-minute scoreless streak with 2:33 left in the game, bringing the score to 7-3.
Just thirty seconds later, Eisenreich scored his third goal of the game bringing the score to 8-3, where it would remain until the final whistle. With the win, the Bison moved to 9-4 on the season and 3-1 in Patriot League play.
The Orange and Blue face off tomorrow against Lehigh (10-2) in Bethlehem, Pa. for rights to first place in the Patriot League.