COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – For 45 minutes, nothing went the Ursinus College men's lacrosse team's way. The last 15 were all that mattered.
Tommy Reinhart netted the go-ahead goal with just over two minutes remaining and the 6th-ranked Bears survived a wild final sequence to escape with an improbable 14-13 victory in a titanic tilt of unbeatens against Stockton on Wednesday night. Reinhart's game-winner, which trickled over the goal line after an initial stop by the Ospreys keeper, sealed a remarkable rally from six goals down in the second half – and five in the fourth quarter – as Ursinus improved to 7-0 to match the 2010 team for the best start in school history.
For three quarters, the previously perfect Ospreys (5-1) had their way with the home side, which came in sporting the highest national ranking in the history of the program. Stockton, coming off a banner year in which it captured its first conference title and NCAA Tournament win, went toe to toe and then some, controlling the middle two quarters and stunning the Patterson Field faithful with a lead that grew as large as six in the final minute of the third period.
Evan Scott found the back of the net with 14.2 seconds to go in the third, and Bobby McClure scored 10 seconds into the fourth. Then the field tilted.
The Bears enjoyed a long stretch of one-way traffic, putting their offensive arsenal on full display in a stirring surge that rendered all of the Ospreys' good work moot. Grill wrapped a pair of incredible individual goals around a finish by McClure to bring Ursinus within 12-11 at the 10-minute mark, and it was tied less than a minute later when Hakan Atillasoy tickled the twine.
Stockton nosed back in front with 7:15 to go, only for Joe Mercurio to plug the top shelf with a missile from Reinhart, making it 13-13 with 6:28 to go.
The rest of the game was chaos in a bottle, a pulse-pounding string of turnovers, saves, and quick changes in possession. After Chris Porzelt made a pair of big stops, the Bears forced a turnover and were off to the races, McClure feeding ahead to Reinhart for an open shot that Stockton goalie Eric Lindskog managed to stop but was unable to keep from dribbling over the line.
Rei Lopez won the ensuing faceoff and forced the Ospreys to pull Lindskog, but the Bears surrendered two final chances with turnovers. Porzelt stoned one with a save but turned it over on the clear, and Dante Poli rang the post with a bouncing shot. Porzelt left his cage to chase down the ground ball and heaved it downfield, leaving Stockton no time for an equalizer as the clock wound down on the Bears' most unlikely win to date.
Grill and McClure each had three goals and two assists for the Bears, who held a 16-6 advantage in shots in the final frame and outscored the Ospreys, 7-1. Reinhart potted two goals and two assists and Atillasoy also scored twice.
Chase Rondeau had five ground balls and three caused turnovers in a stellar defensive performance, and Porzelt made three of his seven saves in the fourth quarter. Lopez was 17-of-25 on faceoffs with a career-high 12 ground balls.
Ursinus looked to be breaking free midway through the first period, counteracting an opener from Stockton with two quick-fire goals by Atillasoy and Reinhart.
The Ospreys, however, shook off the momentum shift and put their stamp on the first half, running off four straight goals and holding the high-octane Bears off the scoreboard for a quarter of game time. Grill stopped the bleeding with a laser from up top, only for the visitors to respond with back-to-back markers from Erik Anderson and Poli to go up 7-3 with 59.7 seconds left on the second-quarter timer.
Lopez hit back with one of his signature lightning-strike tallies, scoring right off the faceoff for the third time this season to rescue some momentum and slice the deficit to three heading into the locker room.
Erik Anderson led Stockton with three goals and three assists, with Eric Ellis also netting a hat trick. Lindskog finished with 12 saves, including several highlight-reel stops.
The Bears now have 10 days to prepare for their Centennial Conference opener, a championship rematch with No. 9 Gettysburg.