Offense doesn’t click for Mids

Going into the season, the storyline for Navy men’s lacrosse was the potential for an explosive offense. After all, the Midshipmen featured a pair of All-American midfielders in Greyson Torain and Casey Rees along with several other quality parts.

Navy did not show that firepower early, averaging just six goals over three games to start the 2018 campaign. However, things started to click on the offensive end once Patriot League play got underway with the Midshipmen amassing 23 goals in wins against Boston University and Bucknell, latter of which was ranked No. 20 at the time.

Coach Rick Sowell said this week that he thought the offense was beginning to play to its potential and hoped the unit had “turned the corner.”

Navy’s offense reverted to its early season form during Tuesday night’s neutral site 11-3 loss to Pennsylvania. The Midshipmen committed numerous costly turnovers and struggled to generate quality shots in going through several lengthy droughts.

Standout junior attackman Simon Mathias scored two goals and dished off two assists as No. 19 Penn steadily pulled away at Tierney Field on the campus of US Lacrosse headquarters. Senior midfielder Kevin McGeary had two goals and an assist for the Quakers, who outscored the Mids 8-2 in the second half.

Penn junior goalkeeper Reed Junkin only had to make seven saves behind a defense that did not give up many high-percentage shots and also caused five turnovers.

Navy committed 13 turnovers and its offensive fortunes were not helped by two apparent goals by Torain that were missed by officials. The Midshipmen also hit about seven pipes.

“We just didn’t finish early. I think there were a bunch of opportunities in the beginning that we just could not put away,” Torain said. “We didn’t take great shots on this goalie. He was saving a lot low and I think if we had shot high a few times we would have nailed some.”

Sophomore attackman Adam Goldner scored two goals for Penn (3-2), which never trailed after eras- ing a 1-0 deficit. Senior short-stick defensive midfielder James Farrell had two assists to spark a strong transition game for the Quakers, who had 13 players factor into the scoring.

“Toward the end it turned into turnover after turnover after turnover. We started to get really sloppy,” Torain said. “We were getting outground balled and throwing the ball away. Ultimately, they looked like the better team after halftime.”

Navy struck first with attackman David Little taking a feed from midfielder Ryan Wade and finishing a short shot with just over 2½ minutes elapsed. Remarkably, the Midshipmen would not score again for the rest of the first half.

Bartolo scored unassisted around the midway mark of the first period to tie the score and one minute later McGeary scored off a pass from Lulley to put Penn ahead, 2-1, at the 6:24 mark.

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