COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's lacrosse team showed off its resilience as the Bears climbed out of a 6-1 hole to charge back and claim a 16-13 win over Swarthmore in an entertaining Centennial Conference game on a pristine day at Patterson Field.
No. 9 Ursinus (8-1, 2-1) received impressive games from the attack duo of senior Peter DeSimone and junior Bobby McClure to dig out of an early slump.
DeSimone registered five goals to get his career total to 108, three shy of breaking Dane Mangin's program standard. DeSimone also added two assists to finish with seven points – one more than McClure, who contributed four goals and two assists.
Ursinus jumped out to an early lead in the opening minute courtesy of DeSimone but the Garnet went on a streak of six consecutive goals over the span of the first quarter. The Bears had struggles handling and clearing the ball in the opening stanza but turned things around in the second.
The Bears picked things up in the second and went on to outscore Swarthmore, 4-1, in the stanza. Ursinus ended a long scoreless stretch of 18-plus minutes and broke up Swarthmore's scoring momentum as senior Tim Carroll blasted one in for the Bears. Thirty-five seconds later, McClure scored to get within three at 6-3.
McClure pocketed his second goal of the game on a long-range snipe with less than 40 seconds until halftime to get the Bears within 7-5 at the break. Ursinus took more shots (17-7) in the second quarter, balancing out a 16-5 shot deficit in the first.
Swarthmore (7-2, 0-2) scored the first two goals of the third, but the Bears rallied for three of their own to get within a goal at 9-8. DeSimone fired one in before back-to-back strikes from McClure made it a one-goal game with 10:55 left in the third, but the Garnet added a goal seconds later to go back up two.
Two goals by DeSimone knotted the score at 10 with over five minutes left in the third, putting the Bears on level ground for the first time since it was 1-1 early in the first quarter. DeSimone scored in bizarre fashion as Swarthmore goalie Frankie Dillon had the ball drop from his stick before DeSimone capitalized for a point-blank goal at 5:26.
On the following faceoff, Ursinus regained its first lead since the opening tally when freshman Jake Stackpole scored his first career goal from DeSimone's pass with over five minutes to go in the third. Quin Seivold knotted it at 11-11 for the Garnet with less than a minute left in the third.
The Bears regained the upper hand as sophomore Hakan Atillasoy worked one-on-one magic to score his third with 11 seconds to go, setting up an exciting fourth quarter.
Atillasoy scored a minute into the fourth to make it 13-11. Swarthmore picked up an unassisted tally at a few minutes later.
Ursinus went up two scores when the Bears swung the ball around the horn as junior Sam Mutz went top shelf with a man-up.
A pass on the doorstep to Rittenhouse got the Garnet within a goal again on the man advantage before DeSimone buried his fifth from Atillasoy to stay up 15-13.
Junior goalie Matt Nunziata came in relief in the second quarter of injured senior starter Nick Kirk. Nunziata made several clutch saves in the closing minutes, especially on a transition long-pole shot at the four-minute mark.
Sophomore Joe Mercurio put the cherry on the top of the Bears' second conference win with 2:59 to go.
Dillon had 10 saves for the Garnet in goal. Leading the Garnet's attack was Rittenhouse, who collected four goals.
The Bears and Garnet were evenly matched in several statistical categories. Ursinus edged Swarthmore, 44-42 in shots. Faceoffs were split t 16, and Swarthmore committed three more turnovers than Ursinus, 20-17.
The Bears are back in action Saturday at noon when they take on McDaniel at Patterson Field.