COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus Men's Lacrosse team bounced back in a big way on Saturday afternoon as they defeated Southern Virginia 20-9 in non-conference action at Patterson Field.
With the win, the Bears improved to 1-1 overall after winning their fourth-straight home opener. Meanwhile, the Knights of the USA South Conference fall to 0-2 overall on the season.
Ursinus got things rolling on its first possession following taking the opening faceoff as junior Tyler Neal started what would become a huge day with a goal to make it 1-0 at the 13:20-mark. After some strong play in net from Bears sophomore goalkeeper Jonathan Singer, Neal added his second at the 7:47-mark after getting a feed from junior Erik Ojert. The Knights broke onto the scoreboard to make it 2-1 with 3:43 left in the first quarter as they took advantage of a man-up opportunity. Ursinus finished the first quarter on a strong note by responding to the Knights goal in the final minute when first-year Christopher Pucciarelli netted his first collegiate goal at the 19-second mark, making it a 3-1 game.
The Bears were hit with a pair of penalties in the just 1:30 into the second quarter but Neal tallied his third goal of the game on the man-down situation after a quick rush following a Knights turnover in their own offensive end. Neal continued to overpower Southern Virginia by netting his fourth goal of the game just under a minute later to bring the score to 5-1 at the 11:55-mark. The Knights ended the Bears run at the 4:07-mark with a goal to cut the deficit down to 5-2 before Ursinus quickly responded less than a minute later when senior Jerry Bardol found junior Jeremy Calabro in front of the net and brought the lead up to 6-2. The Bears added to their lead at the 2:36-mark when Neal stripped the Knights goalkeeper of the ball following a save of his own shot and found Erik Ojert in front to score on a wide-open net. Southern Virginia gained some momentum into the half as they scored at the 1:14-mark to make it a 7-3 game after 30 minutes.
Ursinus once again took advantage of winning the first faceoff of the quarter as senior Tommy Reinhard ripped a long shot for his first goal of the season just 49 second into the second half to make it an 8-3 game. Neal quickly added to the lead with his fifth tally at the 12:08-mark of the third quarter before the Knights struck back right off winning the ensuing faceoff to bring the score to 9-4. The Bears ultimately put the game away with an eight-goal run to go up 17-4 at the 2:36-mark of the third quarter. Ursinus got six different goal scorers during the run with senior Eric Bauer, senior Tre Tillman, and junior Tyler Falco recording their first goals of the game.
Following two-straight Knight goals to end the third quarter, Reinhart registered his second goal of the game off another opening quarter faceoff win to make it an 18-6 game at the 14:24-mark. Ojert shelved his second goal of the game just under two minutes later to bring the score to 19-6 and Pucciarelli capped the Bears big day with his fourth goal just before the final buzzer to seal up the win at 20-9.
The Bears held a 62-47 shot advantage for the contest and a 33-21 edge in shots on goal. Ursinus forced 22 Knights turnovers and held a slight 17-14 edge in face off wins. Southern Virginia held a 38-33 advantage in ground balls for the contest. Singer earned the win for the Bears in his first collegiate start after making 12 saves in the full 60 minutes. Meanwhile, Knights starting goalkeeper Landon Roylance suffered the loss after making nine saves in 34:36 of action. Jason Slaosi made four saves for the Knights during a span of 25:24 of the contest. Neal fell one point of his career-high set last season as he registered nine points behind six goals and three assists. Erik Ojert continued his strong start to 2022 as he recorded five points on two goals and three assists, while Pucciarelli added five of his own on four goals and one assist. Reinhart, Bauer and Calabro also all added two goals in the win.
Ursinus returns to action on Wednesday, March 2nd as they will host Montclair State in non-conference action at 4 p.m.