Midshipmen rally to upset Raiders
Navy shows resolve in case to be Patriot League contender
Navy men’s lacrosse made a strong statement that it’s a legitimate contender in the Patriot League by upsetting first-place Colgate with a gritty, determined effort Saturday.
Sophomore goalie Dan Daly tied a career-high with 15 saves to anchor an impressive defensive effort, while junior attackman Henry Tolker totaled three goals and an assist as the Midshipmen rallied from an early deficit to beat the 18th-ranked Raiders, 10-9, before an announced crowd of 1,748 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Senior midfielder Dane Swanson scored two goals, while sophomore running mate Mac Haley totaled a goal and two assists as the Mids improved to 6-4 overall and 3-1 in the Patriot League.
“Just a great win. It was probably the best win we’ve had since I’ve been here,” fifth-year Navy coach Joe Amplo said. “I just thought it was a tough, tough Navy win. We figured out a way to win the game.”
Midfielder Max Hewitt along with attackmen Xavier Arline and Tommy Hovivian all contributed a goal and assist for Navy, which is now tied with Colgate (6-4, 3-1) and Army for second place in the conference behind Boston University (7-3, 4-1). The Midshipmen handed the Terriers their lone league loss.
Navy still faces some stiff tests with sixth-ranked Army (8-1, 3-1) and perennial Patriot League powerhouse Loyola Maryland
(4-6, 2-2) looming later this month. Amplo deflected a question about whether Saturday’s gutsy win showed the Midshipmen are a championship contender.
“We don’t look at it like that. Last week you asked me a question about when are we going to go on a winning streak and we’ve got one now,” Amplo said. “I think it shows that we have some heart and these kids really want to win. Whatever that means moving forward, that’s the most important thing.”
It appeared Navy had clinched the come-frombehind victory after Arline beat a double-team off a restart, raced to the front of the goal and scored into an empty net to make it 10-8 with 40 seconds left. However, Arline was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and that gave Colgate an extra-man opportunity and immediate possession of the ball without a faceoff.
Sophomore midfielder Hunter Drouin scored his third goal of the game with a left-handed crank shot to pull the Raiders within one with 28 seconds remaining. Colgate won the ensuing faceoff and immediately called timeout to set up a play designed to get the tying goal.
Drouin got off one good shot that sailed high, then committed a turnover with five seconds to go to seal the result.
After beating the double team from the end line, Arline could have elected to run around attempting to salt away the remaining time on the shot clock. Had Navy been able to run out the shot clock, Colgate would have been forced to go the length of the field in five seconds to score the tying goal.
Amplo believes Arline made the right decision by taking the opportunity to give Navy a two-goal advantage.
“I had a timeout in the pocket. The seas kind of parted there and Xavier split the double. If he got in trouble, I was going to bang a timeout again and set something else up,” Amplo said. “He’s one of the best athletes in Division I lacrosse and is tough to guard in those situations. I thought it was the right play at that time.”
Arline punched the air to celebrate the critical tally and reportedly a Colgate defender said something that set him off. Arline responded and wound up getting put into the penalty box.
“I thought [Arline] was a little bit undisciplined in that moment. I kind of have an idea of exactly what was said and I’ll just keep it at that,” Amplo said. “I was proud of our guys for just sticking with it at the end there and winning the game. That’s the most important thing and the thing that speaks the loudest in those situations and it’s a lesson we all need to learn.”
Amplo was extremely angry and could be seen screaming at a Colgate assistant upon completion of the handshake line. He then had a brief heated discussion with Colgate coach Matt Karweck before the two embraced and went their separate ways.
Things did not start off well for Navy, which committed seven turnovers and struggled to get any open shots in the first quarter. Drouin had a goal and assist as Colgate grabbed a 4-0 lead at the 8:06 mark of the second quarter.
The Raiders are among many programs now employing a 10-man ride and they do it as well as anyone in Division I. Yates ranks third nationally in caused turnovers (21) and Colgate is among the Division I leaders in that category as a team.
“It was ugly as could be. [Colgate] is really good at what they do. It’s an excellent riding team,” said Amplo, adding that he knew “they couldn’t turn us over every single time we cleared the ball. I’ve never been a part of something like that.”
Navy turned the game around by scoring three goals in less than three minutes late in the second quarter. Tolker found Hovivian cutting to the crease and delivered a perfect feed that led to a point-blank shot that finally put the Mids on the board with 5:24 left in the first half.
Tolker then finished a fastbreak that was jumpstarted by defenseman Jackson Bonitz, who delivered a nice dish off to the lefty attackman for a blistering overhand shot. Sophomore midfielder Paul Garza then beat a double-team to get open in front of the net and fired a short sidearm shot past the netminder and suddenly the score was 4-3 at halftime.
“I felt like going in 4-3 at half was huge for us. We felt a little better about ourselves,” Amplo said. “To make that ugliness in the first half only 4-3 and we have the momentum… I thought was probably the biggest factor in the game.”
Amplo credited offensive coordinator Dave Cottle and assistant Blake Miller with switching to a different offensive to create better scoring opportunities.
“Offensively, in the first quarter it looked pretty dire. Credit to Blake and Dave for making some adjustments and to the offensive guys for not getting too panicked and just sticking with the game plan,” Amplo said.
Bonitz shut down dangerous attackman Michael Minicus, one of the top offensive players in the
Patriot League. Minicus scored Colgate’s first goal in an unsettled situation, but was held scoreless the rest of the way.
“Jackson did a great job. For the most part, he was excellent in the defensive half of the field. He did his job on the ball and got the guys organized off the ball. He played like a senior,” Amplo said. “I challenged the seniors before the game. I said you are guaranteed a month and this is your team now. You have to take ownership of it and figure out a way to get this thing going.”
Daly was outstanding throughout against a potent offense that unleashed 48 shots. The first-year starter recorded 10 saves in the first half to keep the Mids in the game.
“I knew coming in that this was a great offense with a lot of great shooters. I felt after making a few saves I settled in,” said Daly, describing Navy’s six-on-six defense as “excellent.”
Added Amplo: “[Daly] was great in the cage. I just thought defensively we played like men. We played physical, we played tough, we played connected. That’s a good offensive team.”
Colgate had averaged almost 16 goals in its three previous Patriot League games — victories over Loyola (14-11), Lafayette (16-10) and Bucknell (17-4).
“I thought to hold them down you had to stop them in transition. I thought our offensive middies did a good job of getting in the hole. I thought our attack stuck the riding game plan of getting back and slowing them down,” Amplo said. “It wasn’t just the defensive box that was part of the defensive game plan. It was a team effort.”
Junior attackman Jack Turner, who was leading the league with 24 goals, was limited to two goals. Junior attackman Rory Conner contributed a goal and two assists for Colgate.
“It was a good fight, a good battle. Two good teams playing for Patriot League positioning,” Karweck said. “We have a heck of a respect for the Naval Academy and what they do here. That was just a great fight all around. They played a great game today and got on top at the end.”
Navy (6-4, 3-1) — 0-3-4-3 — 10
Colgate (6-4, 3-1) — 3-1-2-3 — 9
GOALS: C — Drouin 3, Turner 2, Connor, Minicus, Trumble, Favaro. N — Tolker 3, Swanson 2, Haley, Hewitt, Arline, Hovivian, Garza. ASSISTS: C — Connor 2, Drouin, Sposita, Yates. N — Haley 2, Arline, Bonitz, Flaherty, Hewitt, Hovivian, Tolker. SHOTS: C—48.N—39. C — LaCombe 13. N — Daly 15. C—9.N—15.
N—32.