FLUSHING, N.Y. — Holy Cross midfielder Terry McKenna scored four goals
while Michael Ortlieb made 12 stops between the pipes to lead the
Crusaders (4-3, 1-1 PL) to a 7-5 victory over the Navy men's lacrosse
team (3-5, 1-2 PL) Sunday afternoon at Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets. Sunday's
contest marked just the second Div. I men's lacrosse game played at a
Major League Baseball venue, as Citi Field played host to the
Metropolitan Lacrosse Classic presented by Konica Minolta.
"I'm certainly disappointed by the result today,"
said second-year Navy head coach Rick Sowell. "Give credit to Holy
Cross. They played good enough to beat us, so I have to tip my cap to
them.
"It was a great opportunity to play in this even. We came
up here to get a win, first and foremost, so the result definitely put a
damper on an otherwise great experience."
McKenna carried the Crusaders on his shoulders, scoring the first
three goals for Holy Cross, including the game's first marker at 4:29 on
an unassisted strike from eight yards out on the left wing.
The
Mids knotted the game with a minute remaining in the opening period when
rookie attackman T.J. Hanzsche (Berwyn, Pa.) beat Holy Cross defenseman
Daniel Schmader and curled around for a left shot up the middle.
Navy took its lone lead of the game when junior Pat Durkin
(Germantown, Md.) set up at the top of the box and found second-year
midfielder Gabe Voumard (Cape May, N.J.) cutting to the crease for his
12th goal of the season 26 seconds into the second quarter.
The Crusaders answered with back-to-back goals scored by McKenna
just 1:27 apart to give them a 3-2 advantage with just under 12 minutes
to go in the half.
Navy tied things up when Durkin scored the
first of his game-high two goals. Junior Sam Jones (Annapolis, Md.) fed
Durkin who drew the double team and spun his way for a low side-winder
at 6:47 in the second.
Holy Cross took the lead for good when James Kennedy and Myles
Gillespie collaborated for an extra-man goal from just three yards out
with 5:00 to go in the first half.
The Crusaders extended their
lead to two goals less than four minutes into the third quarter when
reserve Chris Smith launched a 13-yard shot from the left side.
Navy answered a minute latr when Durkin beat defenseman Matt Ward
and sent his diving left-handed shot past Ortlieb to get the Mids to
within one with 10:22 to go in the third.
Holy Cross pushed their
lead to two at 6-4 when McKenna fed leading scorer Clay Haarmann for
its second extra-man goal of the game with 1:47 to go in the quarter.
The Mids again trimmed the lead to one, 6-5, with 11:51 remaining
when Jones set up behind the goal and curled around the left side,
beating Reed Kennedy for his game-high 13th goal.
McKenna sealed
the win for the Crusaders with his fourth goal of the game, taking a
pass from Haarmann and lodging his shot into the back of the net from 15
yards out with 5:16 to go.
Durkin paced the Mids with three points on two goals and assist, while Hanzsche, Jones and Voumard all pitched in goals.
Senior
Evan McGoogan (Cranberry Township, Pa.) played a solid game, winning
10 of the 16 draws he took and led the Mids with six ground balls.
Junior long pole Pat Kiernan (Ridgewood, N.J.), meanwhile, picked up
five ground balls and caused three turnovers to lead the defense, while
senior keeper Nolan Hickey (Garden City, N.Y.) surrendered all seven
goals and made 10 saves.
"I thought today
was more about what we did and didn't do vs. what they did," added
Sowell. "We didn't shoot well, but that's been our Achilles heel all
year. There are a number of things that have plagued us. We're in a
rut right now that we can't seem to get ourselves out of, but we have to
figure it out in a hurry."
The Midshipmen return to action next Saturday
when they face Colgate in a Patriot League matchup at the Konica Minolta
Faceoff Classic. Game time is slated for 2:00 pm at M&T Bank
Stadium. Pete Medhurst and Joe Miller will call the action on WNAV 1430
AM/99.9 FM, while the game can also be seen on ESPNU.
