Box Score YORK, PA – The York College men's lacrosse team used a big second half to roll past Eastern University 11-6 in the opening round of the 2016 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament in York, PA. The Spartans improve to 17-3 overall while the Eagles season comes to an end with a mark of 14-6. The Spartans are ranked seventh in the nation in the USILA Coaches Poll.
The win against the Eagles is the second for the Spartans this year as they won the season opener 9-2 on February 17 in St. David's, PA. York advances to the second round for the second time in school history as they will host the winner of the Washington & Lee and Sewanee first round game that will be played on Wednesday evening.
How it happened:
• The Spartans came roaring out of the gate as the scored the first three goals of the game. Taylor Tolbert tallied the game's opening goal with a tally at the 12:57 mark of the first quarter. Austin Glab and Thomas Pfeiffer scored the next two goals a little over three minutes apart to push the York lead to 3-0.
• Eastern's Bryan Goetz notched an unassisted goal with 3:26 left in the first quarter, getting the Eagles on the board.
• Glab closed out the first quarter scoring with an unassisted tally with 1:33 left in the period.
• The Eagles carried the play in the second quarter as York was shutout in the period and Eastern got goals from Desmond Decker and Goetz. York was outshot 12-8 while Eastern goalie Jameal Hadeed made six saves in the quarter.
• The third quarter turned the game in the favor of the Spartans. York got a man down goal from Brendan McGrath just 19 seconds into the second half as he picked up a loose ball and found the back of the net with the Spartans playing one man short. The Spartans won the ensuing face off still down a man and would convert that possession into a Hunter Davis goal just 1:14 later as the York lead grew to 6-3.
• Davis struck again with 7:36 left in the quarter and he was followed by an Andrew Gamble goal 1:09 later as the Spartan lead grew to 8-3.
• The Eagles scored two of the final three goals of the quarter as York took a 9-5 lead to the fourth.
• York put the game away with goals from Nick Magnusson and McGrath as the Spartans pushed out to an 11-5 lead. Eastern's Tim Lamb got a cosmetic goal with 1:10 left to close out the scoring.
Spartan Leaders:
Brendan McGrath: 3 points on 2 goals and 1 assist, 4 ground balls
Hunter Davis: 3 points on 2 goals and 1 assist, 2 ground balls
Josh Kluver: 3 caused turnovers, 4 ground balls
Austin Glab: 2 goals
Conrad Ordakowski: 7 ground balls
Jake Katchmark: 11-for-17 at the X, 2 ground balls
Eagle Leaders:
Bryan Goetz: 3 goals
Tim Lamb: 2 goals, 1 ground ball
Desmond Decker: 1 goal
Ryan Mitchell: 3 ground balls, 1 caused turnover
Jake Billera: 3 ground balls
Goalie Comparison
Caleb Abney (YCP) – 59:30, 6 goals against, 15 saves (Win, 16-2)
James Anderson (YCP) – 0:30, 0 goals against, 0 saves
Jameal Hadeed (EU) – 60:00, 11 goals against, 15 saves (Loss, 14-6)
Today's Game Notes:
The NCAA Tournament victory is the second in school history and both of those wins have come at Kinsley Field (8-3 vs. Susquehanna in 2014) … the win is the 17th of the season for the Spartans which establishes a new school record, besting the 2014 team that went 16-5 … The Spartans have now won three straight against Eastern as they are 4-1 all-time against the Eagles … the win is the 65th in the five-year career of head coach Brandon Childs … York is now 32-11 under Childs at Kinsley Field including 9-1 in 2016 … Senior goalie Caleb Abney's 15 saves tied a season high and marks the four straight game that he has notched double figures in saves ... Abney has made 51 saves in the Spartans' last four games … Abney improves to 52-19 as York's starter in goal … the Spartans tied their season-low with six turnovers … it is the third time this season they have kept the turnovers in single digits and all three times the total was six … Brendan McGrath's man down goal to open the third quarter was York's first man-down goal all season … Conrad Ordakowski tied his career-high with seven ground balls in the win ... York has reached double figures in each of the last four games and in six of their last eight contests … York outshot the Eagles 46-30 including 25-13 in the second half … The Spartans finished with a 29-15 advantage in ground balls … York was shutout in the second quarter and it was the first time since the second quarter against Salisbury on April 13 that they have been blanked in a quarter ... There were just two penalties in the game with each team getting whistled for a one minute penalty … Eastern has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last five years and have lost in the first round in all five of those seasons … The loss snaps Eastern's nine game win streak … The Spartan senior class continues to increase their school record for wins as the class now has 56 wins … York has won four straight games and five of their last six.
They Said It:
"I thought our seniors played really well today. To be playing at this time of the year, you need your leaders to be really good and ours were today. I thought our defense and goalkeeping were good and gave our offense an opportunity to keep getting possessions. The name of the game today was our ability to get those 50/50 ground balls. To be able to have a 29-15 advantage in ground balls tells you all you need to know about the game."
– Spartan head coach Brandon Childs
What's Next
York will host a second round tournament game on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 pm in York. They will play the winner of Wednesday night's first round game between Sewanee and Washington & Lee in Lexington, Virginia.
