Late goal sinks Mids in Patriot League opener
There is something about Patriot League openers that just does not agree with the Navy men’s lacrosse team.
Attackman Jack Wilson scored his third goal of the game with 1.5 seconds remaining as Boston University beat the No. 17 Midshipmen, 8-7, on Saturday in the Patriot League opener for both schools. Midfielder Cal Dearth scored two goals and assisted on the game-winner as the Terriers (4-0, 1-0) upset Navy (1-3, 0-1) for the second straight season.
“That’s about as tough a way to lose a game as there is,” Mids coach Rick Sowell said. “Those are types of losses that will keep a head coach up a lot of nights.”
Midfielder Colin Flounlacker scored three goals to lead Navy, which has lost its first conference contest for the seventh straight season. The Mids rebounded to Radio: capture the Patriot League regular-season championship in 2015 and 2016.
“We just can’t seem to get off to the type of start we want to,” Sowell said. “I guess we do take some confidence away knowing that we’ve been here before.”
Long-stick midfielder Matt Rees scored two goals while close defenseman Chris Fennell contributed a goal and an assist as Navy did most of its damage in transition. Close defenseman Michael Strack and short-stick defensive midfielder John Trainor added assists for the Mids, who scored just one goal in six-on-six situations.
“We weren’t taking advantage of the opportunities they were giving us. We knew we could beat their guys, but we were playing a little tentative,” Flounlacker said. “Early on, we took some shots that really weren’t there. We were hesitant and not really pressing them the way we should have. Just a lot of silly mistakes that add up.”
Navy called timeout with 54 seconds left to set up a play it hoped would produce the go-ahead goal. Sowell put the ball in the stick of dynamic midfielder Greyson Torain, who used a nice roll-back move to lose long-stick midfielder Greg Wozniak.
Torain had an open shot for a splitsecond, but did not take it and short-stick defensive midfelder Brian Badgett slid quickly to get in his face. Torain then tried to dish to a teammate, but defenseman Chase Levesque checked his stick and forced an errant pass that went out of bounds.
Boston University began the final possession from the end line in Navy territory with 10.5 seconds left and somehow managed to get the ball all the way upfield for a point-blank shot to win it. Boston Univ. Navy
Goals: BU—Wilson 3, Dearth 2, Carbone, Farris, Homire; N— Flounlacker 3, Rees 2, Fennell, Torain. Assists: BU—Burr, Dearth,Homire, Hilburn, MacLean, Wilson; N—Fennell, Strack, Trainor. Saves: BU—CarsonBanister 10; N—Kern 5.