Penn With Rousing Comeback.
The cross city rivalry continued with an absolute thriller.
Kevin M. Neibauer
LaxPhilly- A Division of the Edge of Philly Sports Network
It was The Northeast Conference battling the Ivy League with the #20 St. Joseph’s Hawks (11-3, 6-0 NEC) making the fifteen minute trek to Penn Park on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. (7-4, 3-3 Ivy).
A spirited comeback gave Penn a 13-12 overtime win.
For the 4th time in their 11 contests, Penn had to play extra minutes.
The victory gives them a 2-2 overtime record.
The Hawks came in riding a seven game winning streak and having locked up the top spot in the Northeast Conference.
To the Action.
St. Joe’s despite Sam Handley (1g,1a) hitting net at 11:40, utilized a pair from Levi Anderson (3g) to walk away with a 2-1 edge after 15:00.
To the Second
The Hawks kept swooping with Matt Bohmer (2g,2a) getting to 3-1with :54 played.
James Shipley hit a breaking Dylan Gergar (2g,1a) after a 15:40 scoreless run from Penn to get it back to a one goal game.
Twelve seconds after the Gergar goal, Zach Cole set up Carter Page (3g).
Austin Strazzulla would get on the score sheet by setting up Tucker Brown (1g) for the 33rd for Brown.
With 4:52 to play, the first man up marker was registered with Handley setting up Ben Smith (3g).
Tynan Walsh (2g) scoring his third off a pretty Gergar feed followed with :13 left with Bohmer’s 36th to end the half with a 6-4 Hawks lead.
Mac McLaughlin (1g) at 11:40, Page and Strazzulla (1g,2a) pushed it 9-4 The Hawks direction.
After another long scoreless drought, this one 13:41, Gabe Furey (3g,2a) kicked off his big day to end the third.
Moving Along
It took all of :40 for Anderson to complete his hat trick. The tide would quickly turn the Penn way. Gergar (35th), Shipley (2g,1a) followed with Furey assisting on the second Smith goal made it a 10-8 affair.
Cole (1g,1a) won the draw and ended the run. Furey and Smith countered making it a one goal game with 4:53 remaining.
Bohmer set up Page on the advantage to set the stage for the wild Finish.
Twenty nine ticks later, Furey would notch his fifth point and 11th goal.
The five points came in just 14:03.
Tynan Walsh (4th) buried a 15 yard shot with just :56 to play Cole would win the ensuing face off with Strazzulla clanging a rocket off the cross bar with just :04 to play.
Overtime
Each squad had a possession but couldn’t net.
Mr. Overtime, James Shipley hit his second extra time marker of the season to send Penn to the 13-12 winner’s circle.
Stats:
• Penn had the edge with 50 attempts and 26 on goal. The Hawks had 20 on net out of their 37 shots.
• The Hawks turned it over 15 times to 13 for the Quakers.
• Penn had a big advantage with 34-25 in ground balls
• A big back story, The Hawks Zach Cole, coming in leading the nation with his .733% on face offs, went 15 of 29 with 9 ground balls, a goal and a helper.
• Jamie Zusi went 14 of 29 with 10 scoops.
•Robbie Seeley (7-1) dropped his first game while stopping 13 Penn shots. Patrick Burkinshaw was solid for Penn with 8 stops.
• The hat trick from from Furey was his first Collegiate trick.
• Ben Smith also collected his initial NCAA hatty.
St. Joseph’s will host the Northeast Conference Playoffs at Sweeney Field.
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.
