COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's lacrosse game turned what looked to be a slugfest that would go down to the wire into a convincing runaway on Wednesday night, closing on a stretch of six unanswered goals to run away with a 10-4 victory over Washington College under the Patterson Field lights. With their latest impressive showing, the red-hot Bears set new school records for longest winning streak (eight) and best start to a season (10-1).
Sophomore Gerard Brown was the catalyst for 16th-ranked Ursinus (10-1, 4-0), which extended its home winning streak to nine and won its fourth consecutive night game at Patterson. Brown finished with three goals and three assists, including the helper on senior Tucker Noel's go-ahead strike midway through the third quarter, as the Bears set up a titanic showdown of CC unbeatens at Gettysburg on Saturday.
Tanner Barbieri led Washington College (7-5, 3-2) with two goals, including the tying marker at the 8-minute mark of the third period. Two minutes later, Noel's long-range, left-handed rocket put Ursinus ahead to stay, and the home side was hardly done there.
A crucial caused turnover by sophomore Ian Desenberg, who stripped a Shoremen attacker from behind after Washington College had controlled the ensuing faceoff, led to a big goal by senior Mike Durst, who fired home a well-placed snipe to stretch the lead to 6-4 at the 5:19 mark of the stanza. Two minutes later, Brown threaded a quick pass from x to senior Logan Panaccione at the right post, and Panaccione beat stunned Shoremen goalkeeper Ben Flood to deliver a three-goal lead.
Midway through the fourth, freshman Peter DeSimone scooped up a ground ball and beat Flood with a one-timer, and goals by Brown (3:45) and Desenberg (3:04) just 41 seconds apart kept the Bears in command.
While the offense found its footing eventually, senior goalkeeper Brian Neff was on his game from the get-go. The two-time All-American looked every bit the part on a clear, cool night in Collegeville, making eight of his season-high 14 saves in the fourth quarter and keeping Washington College off the board for the final 23 minutes of game time. Several of Neff's saves were of the jaw-dropping, highlight-reel variety, including early in the fourth in which a Shoreman was in alone but found his attempt stoned at the doorstep.
Junior Zach Jones and freshman Tim Miller had two caused turnovers apiece for the Bears, while Desenberg gobbled up a career-high seven ground balls. Ursinus, which came in ranked 21st in Division III in scoring defense, held Washington College without a goal on seven extra-man opportunities, five of them coming in the fourth quarter.
Panaccione finished with two goals, leaving him two shy of 100 points for his career. Brown registered his second career hat-trick and notched his fifth outing of at least three assists; he needs three more to break the single-season program record.
Ben Flood collected 10 saves for the Shoremen, who held a 10-7 advantage on the faceoff but were outdone by Ursinus in shots (44-31) and ground balls (31-28) and committed 24 turnovers.
Washington College got late goals from Barbieri and Austin Hepburn to seize a 2-0 lead after one period, but the Bears roared back with a three-goal run in the first four minutes of the second. Panaccione buried a cross-crease look from Brown to get Ursinus on the board, and senior Conor Fitzgerald's equalizer came less than a minute later. The Bears took their first lead on Brown's man-up strike, and Brown's second marker of the night sent the home side into halftime with a 4-3 lead.
Wednesday's victory was the first against Washington College at home since 2007.
Next up for the Bears is a much-anticipated showdown with ninth-ranked Gettysburg on Saturday evening at the Battlefield, a tilt that essentially serves as a de facto regular-season championship. The Bullets are undefeated in 15 all-time meetings with Ursinus, including one-goal triumphs in the CC championship and NCAA Tournament second round a year ago; Gettysburg won all three of last season's meetings by a total of four goals.