PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A strong third quarter propelled fourth-seeded Penn to its third Ivy League Tournament Championship with a 16-9 victory over third-seeded Yale Sunday afternoon.
Just under four minutes into the match,
Jack Monfort found
Matt Brandau for his 48
th goal of the season, giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. A minute later, Brad Sharp found the back of the net for a 2-0 advantage.
Penn, fresh off an upset of top-seeded Brown, cut into the deficit at the 6:27 mark of the first frame. Ivy League Player of the Year
Sam Handley hit Ben Smith for a goal. With 1:49 to play in the quarter,
Jack Schultz took a pass from
Tynan Walsh and knotted the score at 2-2.
Yale regained the advantage with a Thomas Bragg goal with 8:34 to go before intermission. However, the Quakers responded with back-to-back goals in a 74-second span for a 4-3 margin.
Dylan Gergar and
Gabe Furey were responsible for the goals.
The Bulldogs tied it when
Leo Johnson connected with
Chris Lyons for a man-up goal at the 4:41 mark. However, Penn powered home back-to-back scores for a 6-4 halftime advantage. Furey and
Luke DiGiacobbe found the back of the net, respectively, for the final two goals of the half.
The Quakers continued their scoring run with five consecutive goals to start the third quarter in less than six minutes. Gergar opened the scoring with a goal off a pass from Walsh. Schultz connected on a goal at the 9:33 mark. Just over two minutes later, Hundley tallied a goal. Thirteen seconds later, Handley found Gergar for a 10-4 margin. Gergar’s goal at the 4:45 mark pushed the score to 11-4.
Yale tried to battle back, netting three of the next four goals. Brandau was responsible for the last two for Penn, pulling the designated visitors within five at 12-7. However, Gergar found Smith as time expired in the third stanza for a six-goal lead.
Any thoughts of a Yale comeback in the final stanza were quieted early in the final 15 minutes of action as Ben Bedard and Hundley posted back-to-back scores for a 15-7 margin with 10:12 to play. The Bulldogs never quit, adding a pair of man-up goals by Johnson and Brandau, but Handley finished the scoring with 1:48 to go for the final 16-9 score.
Gergar led the way in the win with six points on four goals and two assists – both of which marked team-high efforts. Handley totaled five points on three goals and two assists while Furey had four points on two goals and two assists. Bedard notched three points while Schultz and Smith each posted multi-point matches.
Piper Bond and
Jamie Zusi tallied four ground balls apiece. Zusi won 15 face-offs in the victory and
Peter Blake caused a pair of turnovers.
Patrick Burkinshaw was solid between the pipes, stopping 16 shots.
Brandau led the Bulldogs with five points on four goals and an assist. Johnson totaled three points on a goal and two assists while Thomas Bragg garnered a multi-point performance with a goal and an assist.
Nicholas Ramsey had a match-high seven ground balls while Brandau accounted for four. Ramsey won 13 face-offs. Bryce De Muth caused three turnovers. Jared Paquette stopped 11 shots in goal.
Ivy League teams are expected to do well in tonight's NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament Selection Show with six teams in the mix for tournament bids. Penn receives the Ivy League's automatic qualifer with today's win. You can watch the Selection Show tonight at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
All-Tournament Team
Patrick Burkinshaw, Penn (Most Outstanding Player)
Ben Bedard, Penn
Sam Handley, Penn
BJ Farrare, Penn
Dylan Gergar, Penn
Matt Brandau, Yale
Chris Fake, Yale
Leo Johnson, Yale
Devon McLane, Brown
Gavin Adler, Cornell