The Midshipmen of Navy (8-5, 4-3 Patriot) ventured to West Point, NY to do battle for the 103rd time, with the Black Knights of the United States Army (10-3, 5-2 Patriot).
Kevin M. Neibauer.
LaxPhilly– A Division of the Edge of Philly Sports Network.
In a classic, Navy scored with 1:57 to play in regulation to send the epic to an Overtime Quarter.
Senior Co-Captain, Jack Sweeney notched a man advantage goal to send Navy to a 12-11 victory.
“This was a great college lacrosse game, I’m proud of our guys for hanging in there and finding a way to win this game. At one point we were up 10-8 in the game and I looked up and Army had pulled ahead 11-10. We could have broken at that point. Instead Nick Cole, one of our senior leaders, made a play and gave us a chance to win.” Third Year Navy Head Coach, Joe Amplo who move to 2-0 against the Black Knights.
To the Action
The Black Knights had a dominating opening quarter with a four goal output.
Patrick Skalniak (3g) kicked off the scoring with help from Nick Cole at 14:02 to give Navy a short lived lead.
Short lived indeed as Reese Burek (2g,1a) took all of them seconds to knot things up.
Paul Johnson (2g) put Army in front with his 21st unassisted.
A minute twenty one later it would be knotted up once more when Xavier Arline (2g,2a) answered with an unassisted marker of his own.
Army would seize a 4-2 lead when Burek set up Jacob Morin (2g) at 1:12 followed with Gunnar Philip (1g) hitting twine with just :08 on the clock
Second Quarter
The second stanza was a more defensive battle with just three shots hitting net.
Skalniak and Morin exchanged goals four minutes apart.
Brendan Nichtern (3g,1a) closed the half with Army marching, 6-3.
Onward Men
The Navy offense woke up courtesy of Dane Swanson hitting Max Hewitt (1g,1a) at 12:52.
Arline helping on a Cole (2g,2a) score and Swanson getting his second assist off the 25th from Skalniak and with 4:06 in the quarter, we had a 6-6 score.
Army hunkered down with Nichtern (32nd) and Johnson hitting for his 22nd.
Freshman, Henry Tolker (2g) hit on a shot from 15 yards to end the third with an Army 8-7 lead.
Let the Fun Begin
Arline knotted it up with his 4th on a back hand shot off a wrap around.
Tolker flipped the lead the Navy way two and a half minutes later.
Dane Swanson (1g, 3a) gave the Middies a two goal lead at 10-8.
Nichtern hit his career high 33rd followed at the 6:32 mark by Burek’s 21st knotted it up once again.
The Army run continued with just 5:16 remaining with Danny Kielbasa (1g) making it three goals in 2:03 and Army had a one goal lead.
Nick Cole (15th) hit rope at 1:57 and off to the overtime they would March.
James Pryor would be cited for a hold to bring the Navy man up squad to the field.
It took just twenty two ticks for Sweeney to work his magic and send the Middies home winners.
Info:
• With the win, Navy secured a spot in the Patriot League six team tournament
• Shots had a 45-35 advantage for Army. Army also put more shots on goal, 22-15.
• Navy had 19 Turnovers to Army’s 14.
•Face offs went the Navy way, 14-13 with Nate Hammond winning 14 of 27. The Knights Will Coletti went 12 of 24.
• Navy got 11 saves in 60:58 from Pay Ryan while Army received three…yes, three saves from Wyatt Schupler.
Navy Wins a Thriller.
Kevin has followed and promoted the game of lacrosse since May 19, 1974.
The same day the Philadelphia Flyers won the Cup, the Philadelphia Wings were introduced to Neibauer and Philadelphia.
Kevin has covered many sports, including baseball, football, basketball, and.. lacrosse. A former licensed football referee and baseball umpire, Kevin brings a unique insight to his game coverage.
A published writer in JustHockey Magazine, Kevin covered the American Hockey League as well as a monthly story on a pugilist where Kevin used the pen name, The Rink Rat. Neibauer turned his attentions to lacrosse for a few years and does his part, whether podcasting or writing to grow the game. Kevin branched out to his roots and currently provides insight for all Philadelphia teams for Edge of Philly as well as his full-time duties with LaxPhilly.
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