The Wild World of the NCAA D-III Men's Tournament on Display Last Weekend

And then there were eight. 

The Division III men's field has whittled all the way down in fairly chalky fashion. The D-III ranks also had the result of the weekend in college lacrosse, as Salisbury was sent home early by Dickinson. The Sea Gulls fell in overtime in an instant classic that will send shockwaves through the bracket. 

Another story to this point is the NESCAC. The conference put seven teams into the tournament. Now down to the quarterfinals, only two remain. Tufts and Bowdoin advanced, while Trinity, Williams and Middlebury lost in the second round. Wesleyan fell to RPI, and Amherst was bounced by Bowdoin in blowout fashion in round three. 

The quarterfinal field will feature two NESCACs (Tufts and Bowdoin), two Centennials (Gettysburg and Dickinson), two Liberty League teams (RIT and RPI), one Coastal (Christopher Newport), plus Cortland out of the SUNYAC.

TOP GAMES

Christopher Newport 16, Grove City 14

The Wolverines put a bit of a red scare into the Captains, but it wasn’t enough to take them down. Christopher Newport had its customary three-goal run to start, and it took them less than three minutes to accomplish it. Draw man Warner Cabaniss is the weapon every offensive coordinator dreams of having. He finished the game with a 70.3-percent win rate, 13 ground balls and a series of migraine-inducing front exits to space. 

But Grove City didn’t just come to show off its shiny helmets. It came to play and made the most of its possessions, particularly at the end of each half, rattling off a couple of runs that made CNU reconsider its normal attacking joie de vivre. Ultimately, it was too much offense and too many opportunities for the Captains to capitulate, as they moved on to face, and then handily defeat, Lynchburg 22-10 in the round of 16 on Sunday.

York 11, Trinity 8

It might have looked like a runaway early, but Trinity made this one a game late. After trailing 7-3 at the half, the Bantams rattled off a 4-0 third quarter to extend the lead to seven with a quarter to play. Hayden Shin allowed Trinity to play make-it-take-it lacrosse as he went 68 percent at the stripe. 

Cory Bergmann had the hot hand for the Spartans, scoring five goals — four in the first half. Grad student Gavin Gismondi had three points, and Davis Fisher had three assists and a goal. The York attack group was efficient, and despite being outshot by Trinity, made more of its opportunities on offense.

Amherst 12, Endicott 11

This might have been the best game of the entire weekend (were it not for that Reds only starburst of a game between Dickinson and Denison), as both Endicott and Amherst threw everything they had at each other for four quarters. While Amherst did look like the dominant party early on, Endicott found a rhythm, started to win faceoffs and get to more 50-50 balls in the second half. 

In fact, were it not for the play of Mammoth keeper Mitch Likins, we might be talking about an upset. Likins made 18 stops in this game, and 11 of them came in the second half. Amherst pulled ahead for good, 12-11, after Brendan Reilly bagged his game-leading fourth goal with 1:31 left. Endicott still got off two shots in the final minutes, both from Tommy Tyksinski that couldn’t find the back of the net, and Endicott fell by a single goal. 

Amherst faced host Bowdoin on Sunday and was downed 16-5 by its familiar NESCAC rival.

St Lawrence 10, Middlebury 9

Two of the most mercurial teams in all of Division III squared off for the second time this, season and to no surprise of anyone who saw the first game, had an up-and-down slobber knocker of a playoff. The Saints have had an exciting season by any measure of the word. At 11-6 heading in, the heart palpitations started in Upstate before the bus broke the New York border. 

This was a tale of two quarters, one for each team. However, a game is more than a dalliance with domination for 15 minutes; it’s an oppressive slog through one hour of game time. It was the Saints who faltered first, starting with three straight turnovers to Middlebury’s two straight goals. But eventually the ship was righted in the second quarter, when St. Lawrence’s offense scored three goals in less than three minutes, giving them a one-goal lead that stretched to two goals heading into halftime thanks to a juice-goal from Dan Anderson in the waning minutes of the second. 

But the third quarter belonged to the Panthers, who weathered another goal by Anderson to start the second half with a rally of their own, scoring five goals from five players to go up 8-7. Bobby Wells played the hero for St. Lawrence, scoring two of his three goals in the final stanza, including the winner to make it 10-9 with 48 seconds remaining. 

Middlebury won the ensuing draw and called a timeout, but Russell Thorndike’s shot would go wanting, and the Saints survived to play Tufts on Sunday. However, the Jumbos took care of St. Lawrence with five-goal bookend quarters to win 14-8 and move on to the quarters.

RPI 13, Wesleyan 7

It could be considered an upset because Wesleyan played host for this game, but anyone who has paid attention knows this was going to be a battle that could go either way. Angelo Venuto made the difference early, winning the game’s first 10 faceoffs and allowing RPI to build a 4-0 lead. Without possession, Wesleyan’s high-powered offense was limited on opportunities. The RPI defense was aggressive to double, sending help to the back of a ball carrier and forcing the action. The defensive scheme, coupled with limited possession, kept the Cardinals off balance all day. Wesleyan was able to get back within two goals at the end of the third quarter, but RPI maintained a possession advantage and locked Wesleyan out of the game.

RIT 17, Saint John Fisher 13

Something about St. John Fisher in the tournament. A darling a year ago when they pulled off one upset after another on their way to a quarterfinals appearance, the Cardinals once again brought their absolute best on the biggest stage. The Cardinals did not play scared and went toe to toe with the heavyweight Tigers. A four-goal run to close the third quarter tied it at 12 heading to the final frame. RIT was able to string four straight goals together and put the game out of reach, but the Cardinals gave them all they could handle.

UPSETS

Gettysburg 14, Washington and Lee 12

The Bullets beat W&L for the second time this year, notching their first win way back on March 8. Their NCAA tournament meeting was a similar style. Gettysburg got out to a big lead early and had to hold off a comeback attempt from the high-powered W&L offense. 

A 5-0 second quarter that included a massive juice goal from defender Andy Marquet put Gettysburg up 10-3 at the half. Upset alert messages were sent across the D-III lacrosse universe. 

W&L was not going quietly. The Generals got it back to a one-goal game at the start of the fourth quarter when Tyler Spano scored off the opening faceoff to make it 11-10. Gettysburg had answers from Luke Barbera and Jackson Barroll. Again, W&L fought back, and again Spano scored off a faceoff to make it a one-goal game at 13-12. Jack Dunleavy’s goal with 1:18 left put Gettysburg up by two, but it was anything but a comfortable finish. After forcing a turnover and calling a timeout, the Generals got a good look at the net from close range, but Murphy Hoey made the save, his 17th of the day, to keep the Bullets up two and deny Spano the chance for another scoop and score.

Dickinson 11, Salisbury 10 (OT)

The upset of the postseason, across all divisions in men’s lacrosse, goes to the Dickinson Red Devils. Trailing 6-4 at the half, Dickinson pitched a shutout third quarter to take a 7-6 lead into the fourth. May Madness took over from there. 

Michael Leahy drew Salisbury even to start the quarter, but Dickinson responded with two goals of its own. A Riley Strub BTB goal brought the Sea Gulls within one and energized the team and the sideline. Dickinson again had an answer, quieting the crowd with a goal from Ramsey Huggins. With just over three minutes left, things started to look dire. Strub added another goal, his second in the quarter, to bring Salisbury within one. A massive stop from Nick Ransom late sparked transition for the Gulls, and Leahy ultimately ran a two-man game with Brice Bromwell behind the goal. The Dickinson defensive misplayed it, allowing Leahy a doorstep goal to tie it with 53 seconds left. 

Salisbury had chances to win it after that, but the Dickinson defense slammed the door. Blake Malamphy won the ensuing faceoff, and Salisbury used a timeout to draw up a play for a winning goal. Dickinson was ready for it, as a timely double on Bromwell prevented Salisbury from even attempting a shot to end regulation. Malamphy again won a faceoff to start OT, and the Gulls again called a timeout to draw up a winner. Dickinson defended it well again, and the Red Devils held strong for the full 80 seconds of the shot clock as Salisbury couldn’t put a shot on cage. At the other end, Luke Whalen dodged from X against his man, drove lefty, inside rolled from the island, tucked his stick to avoid a trail check, and then stuck a shot low to seal the Dickinson win.

It’s Salisbury’s first loss of the season after entering the game 20-0.

Cortland State 10, York 6

The Dragons, a No. 13 seed, weren’t given much of a chance even after they downed Illinois Wesleyan 23-8. A big part of that was that York is a team that overcame some early losses to evolve into a complete and balanced squad, capable of duking it out with any Top 20 team in the country. Save one.

It has to be said that Dragons goalie Travis Wagner had the game of his life, making 12 stops and frustrating the Spartan offense so much that needle-threading passes became impossible. Errant shots kept falling out of their sticks, and Wagner turned almost all of those into instant clears. The Cortland ride was also integral to the success, pressing as soon as the ball exited the restraining box with players like Alex Thrasher slapping and lifting with legal violence. 

However, all of those things go by the wayside without goals to support the effort. Nick Stoecker played provider, dishing four assists and netting a goal of his own as Sam Rothman, Ryan Scanlon and Sean Kavanagh all finished with two goals each. York did outshoot Cortland 34-27 but were unable to get back into the game after Cortland’s four-goal run that began at the end of the third and finished at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

TOP PERFORMERS

• Bobby Wells, St Lawrence — Three goals, including go-ahead goal
• Cory Bergmann, York — Five goals
• Hayden Shin, Trinity — 15-for-23 on faceoffs
• Jackson Barroll, Gettysburg — Four goals
• Tyler Spano, Washington and Lee — 19-for-27 on faceoffs, 14 ground balls, two goals
• Murphy Hoey, Gettysburg — 17 saves (59%)
• Clifford Gaston, RIT — Six goals, seven points
• Brett Jackson & Jamie Smith, Christopher Newport — Jackson: seven goals, Smith: five goals
• Casey Ryan, Bowdoin — Seven assists
• Angelo Venuto, RPI — 19-for-25 on faceoffs, 11 ground balls, one goal
• Mitch Likins, Amherst — 18 saves
• Luke Whalen, Dickinson — Overtime game winner
• Travis Wagner, Cortland — 12 saves, six goals against

UP NEXT

The quarterfinals are scheduled for Saturday, May 17. Tufts will host Gettysburg. The two were scheduled to play in 2020, but the season was cancelled before the game took place. Other than that, the two have met just once, in 2007 in the NCAA tournament. 

Christopher Newport will take on Bowdoin, and that will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs. 

After its upset of Salisbury, Dickinson will face RPI.

Cortland will visit RIT for a showdown between Upstate New York powers and a “grit-off.”