COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Trailing by one in the fourth quarter, the Ursinus men's lacrosse team closed the game out with five-straight goals to stave off Montclair State by a score of 13-9 on Wednesday afternoon at Patterson Field in non-conference action.
With the win, the Bears improved to 2-1 overall as they completed a two-game sweep on their short homestand. Meanwhile, the Red Hawks of the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) fall to 0-2 overall.
Montclair State took the opening 1-0 lead in the contest after forcing a Bears turnover on their first possession. Senior Jerry Bardol tied the game at one at the 9:48-mark of the first quarter after keeping the Bears on the attack after picking up a loose ground ball in front of the net. The Bears took their first lead at 2-1 just 1:03 later after junior Erik Ojert took a rip from 10 yards out for his first goal of the game. Ojert then found junior Jeremy Calabro open at the left crease for a goal just 37 seconds later following a Red Hawks turnover in their own end to keep the Bears run going at 3-1. Junior Tyler Neal then pushed the Bears lead to 4-1 with his first goal of the game at the 5:42-mark of the first quarter.
Ursinus had some chances to extend the lead further in the first quarter, but Red Hawks goalie David Metzger came up with some tough stops to keep Montclair State within striking distance. Metzger came up with a pair of saves to open the second quarter which eventually led the Red Hawks to score at the other end and cut the lead to 4-2 at the 12:29-mark. The Bears struck back at the 9:15-mark when Junior Chase Rondeau scored off a rush following a Red Hawks turnover. Senior Joshua Grahame broke up a Red Hawks feed in their attack end and found a wide-open Rondeau on the run down the middle of the field. The Red Hawks rallied to tie the game at five behind three-straight goals in a span of 1:53 behind winning a pair of faceoffs. Bardol ended the Montclair State run with his second goal of the game on the Bears next possession and Ursinus looked to keep momentum going when they received its first man-up opportunity of the game. However, it was the Red Hawks that scored on their man-down situation to tie the game at six with 1:01 left in the second quarter.
Both teams had multiple high-scoring chances saved in the first five minutes of the third quarter before Neal broke the tie at the 10:50-mark after intercepting a Red Hawks clear attempt deep in their defensive end. Ursinus then took advantage of a man-up opportunity when senior Tommy Reinhart scored his first of the game after his shot ricocheted off Metzger after it seemed he made the stop. Montclair State once again strung three goals together and took the lead for the first time at 9-8 with 12:52 left in the fourth quarter since initially going up 1-0. However, the lead did not last long as Neal tied the game at nine just 11 seconds later. Neal's goal started a five-goal game-closing run for the Bears to lock up the win. Senior Tre Tillman gave the Bears the lead for good at the 10:04-mark when sophomore goalkeeper Jonathan Singer delivered a clearing pass right on the money to Tillman to set him up for the score. Neal kept the run going with a goal just 47 seconds later after he was able to create space when his defender's stick broke. Tillman notched his second of the quarter at the 8:52-mark after Erik Ojert led a Bears clear off a Red Hawks turnover to make it 12-9 before Neal capped the contest with his final goal at the 2:36-mark.
The Bears held a slight 45-43 advantage in shots and a 31-24 edge in shots on goal. Ursinus held a 42-38 advantage in ground balls while the Red Hawks held a small edge in faceoff wins at 14-12. Singer earned the win after making 15 saves and allowing single-digit goals in the full 60 minutes. Metzger suffered the tough loss for the Red Hawks a valiant 18 saves in the full amount of time. Neal continued his big stretch by leading the Bears with six points behind five goals and one assist while Erik Ojert posted three points on one goal and two assists. Tillman and Bardol notched two goals apiece in the win.
Ursinus will return to action on Wednesday, March 9th when they will travel to face No. 4 Christopher Newport at 4 p.m.