COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The No. 15 Ursinus College men's lacrosse team opened the 2020 campaign in scintillating style on Saturday as Aaron Grill deposited the game-winning man-up goal with 12.8 seconds remaining in a 13-12 instant classic with No. 20 Stevenson on Patterson Field.
After the Mustangs twice turned the ball over in the final minutes with a chance to go in front, and then were whistled for a slash with 27 seconds to play, the Bears took advantage. Bobby McClure found Grill in front of the cage, and the junior faked high before dropping a low shot into the back of the net. Aiden Baltz controlled the ensuing faceoff to ice a wild back-and-forth tug-of-war between a pair of nationally ranked powers.
McClure's assist was his career-high fifth of the afternoon, and Grill's goal gave him two for the day after coming in without one in his first two seasons.
In a game played within a two-goal margin for all but about 90 seconds, the Mustangs took advantage of some opening-day jitters to seize a quick 2-0 lead before Atillasoy got the Bears on the board for the first time.
Atillasoy added two more in the first quarter, both game-tying goals, before Alex Dean finished off a feed from McClure to hand Ursinus a 5-4 lead late in the period, its first of the afternoon.
Ursinus gained its largest separation of the afternoon early in the second quarter, when Ben Minardi sent a bouncing shot into the back of the net and Erik Ojert opened his collegiate account on a leaping shot with 9:41 to go.
Stevenson roared back with three in a row, two of them coming after a non-releasable penalty on Ursinus, to even the score at 7 with 5:22 remaining in the half, but Grill and McClure found the back of the twine just 13 seconds apart to re-establish a multi-goal advantage before the Mustangs pulled one back with 30 seconds left.
After an offensive explosion in the first half, the two sides settled in defensively, and goals were hard to come by after intermission. Rookie Chase Rondeau created one out of thin air, scooping up a ground ball after Andrew Malicki deflected a Stevenson pass and going coast to coast before faking a pass and firing a well-placed missile into the lower left corner of the net to give Ursinus a 10-8 lead.
The Mustangs came back with two in a row before McClure sent a pass from X to Tommy Reinhart, who took the open space and fired in a goal to make it 11-10 with 1:12 left in the third.
Minardi's second goal of the day, another man-up tally on an assist from McClure, made it 12-10 with 11:36 left. But Stevenson countered with a goal by Josh Brannan and pulled even on Ethan Christensen's strike just shy of the 2-minute mark.
The Mustangs won the ensuing faceoff but promptly turned it over and, after Atillasoy saw his effort saved, Stevenson was unable to clear and allowed Ursinus a final possession. Out of a timeout, the Bears worked the ball around before Grill found space in front with an incisive cut and deposited McClure's feed past Marc Poust for the winner.
Atillasoy finished with three goals and two assists, while Grill and Minardi each scored twice. Reinhart and Dean each recorded a goal and an assist.
McClure's five assists gave him 60 for his career, good for fifth all-time at Ursinus. He also moved into second all-time with 177 points, passing Anthony Tori '07.
After allowing goals on each of the Mustangs' first four shots, Chris Porzelt turned in a strong performance in his first career start. The sophomore keeper racked up saves, 11 of them coming after halftime.
Nolan Sachs and Parker Wolf each forced a pair of turnovers to lead the defensive effort. Sachs also scooped up four ground balls to surpass 100 for his career.
Ursinus held a slim advantage in shots (43-39) and ground balls (40-39) and committed 21 turnovers to Stevenson's 24.
Saturday's victory was the second consecutive season-opening triumph against the Mustangs, who have won seven straight MAC championships and made 11 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
The Bears stay at home to take on Mary Washington next Saturday.