SALISBURY, Md. – The No. 9 Swarthmore College men's lacrosse team recorded its first NCAA Tournament victory in program history on Saturday night, topping No. 17 Endicott College, 14-9, in the second round at Salisbury University. With the triumph, the Garnet (15-2) also set a new program single-season wins record, surpassing the mark established by last year's squad.
Swarthmore advances to Sunday's third-round game against the host, Salisbury. The country's top-ranked team and the defending national champion, the undefeated Sea Gulls bested the University of Saint Joseph, 27-8, in the other second-round contest on Saturday.
Holding a one-goal edge at the half, the Garnet pulled ahead to a four-goal cushion by outscoring the Gulls, 5-2, in the third quarter. Endicott was within three with 12:20 to go in the fourth but Swarthmore shut out the Gulls the rest of the way to complete the historic win. The Garnet defense limited Endicott to a season-low nine goals.
Clay Almgren and
Carter Strauch led the Swarthmore attack with five goals apiece. Almgren's goal total was a career high and he added two assists for seven points, which tied his career best.
Rex Mabbs tallied one goal and two assists while
Von Mabbs chipped in with one goal and one assist.
Alex Strauch was a standout on the back end, notching a game-high four caused turnovers and four ground balls.
Henry Kolyer also collected four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Drew Tyson stopped 15 shots in the Garnet cage, his 11
th game with double-digit saves this season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Almgren opened the scoring at the 9:37 mark of the first quarter but the Gulls answered with three in a row to take a 3-1 advantage with 3:32 to go in the period.
Ryder Maston and
Carter Strauch went back-to-back just 53 seconds apart late in the quarter to even the score after one.
- Neither team was able to find the back of the net for the first five minutes of the stanza again before Endicott ended the lull with consecutive goals at 9:47 and 9:01 to go ahead 5-3. The Garnet then closed the half with three straight tallies, one each by Almgren,
Carter Strauch, and
Rex Mabbs to take a one-goal lead (6-5) into the break.
- Swarthmore carried the momentum into the third quarter, starting strong with three more goals to make it six unanswered.
Carter Strauch,
Owen Hoffman, and Almgren beat the goalkeeper to give the Garnet a 9-5 cushion with 8:41 on the clock. The Garnet defense kept the Gulls off the scoreboard for 15:52 of game time before Endicott stopped the drought at the 8:09 mark to get within three (9-6).
- After each team scored once to make it 10-7,
Von Mabbs found the back of the net in the closing seconds of the third to put Swarthmore up four (11-7) going into the final period. The goal was the 132
nd of Mabbs' career, tying the all-time program record.
- The Gulls scored twice early in the fourth around another Almgren goal and the score was 12-9 with 12:20 remaining. The Garnet then put away any chance of an Endicott comeback, playing shutdown defense the rest of the way and allowing just two shots to reach Tyson. On the offensive end,
Carter Strauch and Almgren picked up their fifth goals of the night to finish the scoring. Almgren's final marker came from beyond midfield as he capitalized on the Gulls' 10-man ride and launched the ball into a vacated net.
GARNET LEADERS
Points: Almgren 7
Goals: Almgren,
Carter Strauch 5
Assists: Almgren,
Rex Mabbs 2
Ground Balls:
Alex Strauch, Kolyer 4
Caused Turnovers:
Alex Strauch 4
Face-off Wins:
Matthew Martinez 5
Saves: Tyson 15
UP NEXT
The opening face-off for Sunday's battle with Salisbury is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
