COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - The sixth-ranked Dickinson men's lacrosse team knew that a road win on Saturday over Ursinus College would clinch the top seed in next week's Centennial Conference Tournament. The Red Devils got goals from eight different players on the day and built up a 9-3 hafltime lead en route to a 15-10 win at Patterson Field.
The defenses were on display early as each team took a shot-clock violation on their opening possession. Dickinson would strike first with 3:40 gone as
Capp Reynolds tracked down a loose ball and got it ahead to
Sam Campbell who beat Quinn Watson. Then after the next three shots from UC all went wide of the cage manned by
Chris Brandau the Devils struck with a pair of unassisted goals thanks to
Owen Porter and Campbell to make it 3-0 at the six-minute mark. Brandau had the answer on the next two chances coming from Tyler Neal and Jeremy Calabro, which allowed
Sascha Gannon to miss high once before sticking the ball to the back of the net. Off the ensuing faceoff win by Jake Ojert Neal would cash in a feed from Christopher Pucciarelli. However, despite the Bears continuing to let shots fly none of them tested Brandau as out of the second shot-clock violation of the period
Skyler Schluter hit
Griffin Moore for the fifth of the quarter giving DC a 5-1 edge after one.Â
An early stop by Brandau on Pucciarelli set the stage for three consecutive Devils shots with Schluter being denied by Watson and
Will Farrell ringing iron, before Moore struck for the second time. After a successful man-down opportunity for the Red and White, Gannon hit another post and
Mac Childs was stopped by Watson. That save resulted in the Bears grabbing some momentum with Chase Rondeau beating Brandau, but
Ethan Gess had an immediate response to leave the visitors on top 7-2 with 9:14 left. The two sides traded the next four chances with the keepers each notching a pair of saves. Dickinson then took full advantage of a man-up opportunity with Porter finding
Lee Dunn for the eighth of the day. Then the two teams exchanged markers 21-seconds apart with Neal and
Charlie Baughan cashing in for their respective sides. Over the final fiver minutes of the period there would be no more goals as DC held a 6-5 shot advantage during that time, but both goalies were strong when called upon.Â
Jonathan Singer took over between the pipes for Ursinus to begin the third and watched Schluter send one wide of his net just a minute in. Three minutes later
Seamus McCloskey popped the ball free from Tyler Falco and tracked down the loose ball prior to letting a pass go to Dunn for the finish and the 10-3 cushion. Brandau turned away two of the next four shots, but saw an attempt from Neal get behind him. However, after Singer turned the rock over to Schluter he setup Dunn to complete his hat-trick and make it 11-4 with ten minutes off the clock. Calabro took the next three shots for the home side and put two behind the keeper to cut the deficit down to 11-6 after three.
Both teams were on the board inside the opening minute of the fourth as Schluter tallied for the Red and White, before Calabro netted one to leave the score at 12-7. Just over two minutes later the Bears had recorded three more shots and one goal thanks to Neal. Dickinson's defense then went on lockdown mode over the ensuing three minutes allowing just one shot against, while Gannon, Gess and Porter deposited the rock into the cage making it 15-8 at the 6:43 mark. The Devils kept applying the pressure with Moore sailing wide and Gess having a shot beat away by Singer. Ursinus would bag two more goals inside the final five minutes, but it would not be enough as the Red and White secured the 15-10 win.
Red Devil Leaders
Goals - Dunn (3)
Assists - Schluter (3)
Groundballs - Brandau (5), Reynolds (4)
Saves - Brandau (12)
Bear Leaders
Goals - Neal (4), Calabro (3)
Assists - Neal (2)
Groundballs - Updale (7), Neal (5)
Saves - Singer (7), Watson (5)
Next on the Field
Dickinson (13-3, 7-1 Centennial) will now await the winner of Tuesday's play-in game between Franklin & Marshall and Muhlenberg on Friday at Biddle Field. Opening faceoff for Friday's contest is not known yet so stay tuned to Dickinson Athletics social media and website for more information as well as a preview.
