MANY TEAMS CARRYING HOT STREAKS INTO MIDWAY POINT

Mar 28, 20190

By Mitchell Courtney, Rochester Knighthawks Feature Writer

(March 26, 2019) The NCAA lacrosse season has been anything but predictable to this point. But as teams have begun to find out what kind of group they are, the results have started to regress to the mean. Perennial powerhouses are winning important games against tough opponents, lesser known teams are struggling at times, and surprise contenders have played fairly even.

One team that has been consistently effective this season is the Loyola Greyhounds. The Greyhounds, led by superstar Pat Spencer and Indigenous freshman Chase Scanlan, were at one point ranked as the No. 1 team in the country, and they have not shown much in the way of weaknesses. Their game against Bucknell was another test that they passed easily, defeating the Bison by a score of 12-7. Scanlan notched four goals and one assist, whilst team captain Pat Spencer collected five goals and three assists.

Although they have moved up and down at times in the rankings, Scanlan says that the Greyhounds are focused solely on winning games.

“I do not believe the rankings mean anything,” he said. “It is the team that comes together and puts the pieces together that will come out on top.”

Scanlan and the Greyhounds will next play Colgate on March 30.

Although the Albany Great Danes started their season 1-4, they have since taken charge of their season, winning their last two contests. Their most recent victory came against Binghamton, where the Danes won 12-7. The strong Indigenous presence for Albany again proved fruitful as Mitch Laffin scored two goals, Jakob Patterson scored two goals and added six assists, Tehoka Nanticoke had a hat trick, and one assist and Ron John added an assist in the dominating performance. Laffin noted that inexperience has played a role in teams taking a few games to really get rolling on all cylinders.

“Many teams have graduated a lot of their guys,” he said. “Now the guys who have not had the chance to play are stepping into those roles and stepping up.”

Albany will aim to extend their winning streak to three and then four games and get to .500 or better on the season when they take on Harvard on Wednesday and Hartford on Saturday.

Devon Buckshot’s High Point squad lost just their second matchup of the season to the Jacksonville University Dolphins and Wake:Riat BowHunter, 12-10. The win is hardly surprising. Although High Point has been successful this season, considering the young talent on the Jacksonville sideline has been bursting at the seams in recent weeks. The Dolphins will look to win their third game in a row on March 30 as they will battle Air Force. As for High Point, they will look to bounce back as they face off against Furman on the same day.

Johns Hopkins University fell to 4-4 on the season as it was defeated by Virginia, 16-11. On Saturday, defenseman Jake Fox and Johns Hopkins return to action as they battle the Michigan Wolverines.

Kyran Sunday and the Hofstra Pride fell to 3-6 on the season. Rutgers’ four fourth-quarter goals were enough to beat Hofstra by a score of 10-7. Hofstra next battles Towson on March 30.

St. John’s freshman Matt Duncan collected five ground balls as his group defeated UMass-Lowell 15-13 on the strength on six fourth-quarter tallies. St. John’s outscored their opponents by four goals in the final quarter. Duncan and St. John’s will attempt to get over .500 once more as they take on the Providence Friars on Saturday.

Providence is coming off a 15-9 loss at the hands of Dan Burnam’s Drexel squad, although Burnam did not play. Drexel will take on No. 16 UMass on March 30.

The Syracuse Orange appear to have resurrected their magic of old as they took down Duke by a score of 9-8 in overtime. The defensive struggle was led by Indigenous Orange defenseman Tyson Bomberry, who scooped up six ground balls in the victory. Syracuse has been a little up and down this season, but they seem to have found their groove, winning their last three contests on their way to a 5-2 record. The Orange will travel to South Bend, Ind., to take on the No. 12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish on March 30.

Kason Tarbell scored a goal in Cornell’s heartbreaking loss to Penn last week. Sitting at 5-3 on the season, Cornell is not ready to panic just yet as they are focused on their next matchup against Dartmouth on Saturday.

Kainen Francis-Thompson and Hartwick will travel to take on Elmira College on Wednesday in an attempt to move to 6-1 on the season. The Hawks have won four in a row since dropping their opening day game to Oswego State.

Onondaga Community College and Head Coach Eric Miccio will aim for their fourth and fifth wins of the season as they face off against Jefferson Community College in Watertown, NY, on March 27 and Tompkins Cortland Community college on March 30. The Lazers have won two games in a row, and they are led by Indigenous stars Owen Hill and Myles Jacobs.

Genesee Community College, fresh off a loss against the Lazers last week, will go head to head with Mohawk Valley Community College on March 30 as they chase their third win of the season. Indigenous players such as Dante David, Anson Gardner, Kyle Isaacs, Evan and Matt Printup, Darcy Redeye and Konner Sunday headline GCC’s efforts to this point in the season.

Indigenous Players and their College Schedules

Division I

Cornell University

Kason Tarbell

Schedule: https://cornellbigred.com/schedule.aspx?path=mlax&

Drexel University

Dan Burnam

Schedule: https://drexeldragons.com/schedule.aspx?path=mlax&

High Point University

Devon Buckshot

Schedule: https://highpointpanthers.com/schedule.aspx?path=mlacrosse&

Hofstra University