Lacrosse Falls to Wagner in Overtime Thriller, 8-7

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Lacrosse Falls to Wagner in Overtime Thriller, 8-7

LEXINGTON, Va. – A Sean Travis goal with just 22 seconds left in the first overtime propelled the Wagner Seahawks to an 8-7 victory over the VMI Keydets, in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) men's lacrosse contest played Saturday at Foster Stadium in Lexington, Va.

During a Wagner (1-11, 1-5 MAAC) timeout with 52 seconds remaining in the overtime, the Seahawks set up a play. After several deliberate passes, Travis cut to his right, toward the middle of the field. He fired off a shot from about 10 yards out, angled just to the right of VMI (2-11, 0-6) keeper Kelly McMinn. Originally, it was ruled that the attempt was just wide, but after conferring, the officials determined that Travis' shot had gone through a small portion of the net in the upper right-hand corner of the mesh, just over McMinn's left shoulder. The ball had then come out of the back of the cage, meaning that the goal would stand and the Seahawks had prevailed.

In defeat, the Keydets were paced by Colin Bosse, who had four points on the day, as well as Jesse Newman, who posted the first two goals of his college career. McMinn equaled his career high with 16 saves, eight of which came in the second quarter, while Stephen Robarge was 13 for 19 at the face-off X and grabbed 10 ground balls. Robarge's performance makes him just the fourth player in Keydet history to have over 100 ground balls in a single season, as the sophomore now has 109 on the year, a total that ranks second in VMI annals.

The Keydets got off to a quick start on the cloudy April afternoon, as Robarge took the opening draw. On the ensuing possession, Drew Leonard found Bosse for the game's first goal, putting VMI up 1-0 less than 90 second into the game.

As was the case all day, Wagner came right back. After a Keydet turnover, Colin O'Rourke scored on an individual effort, tying the game with 11:20 left in the first. From there, the contest settled into a defensive slugfest. The Keydets had eight shots over the remainder of the quarter, while the Seahawks had six attempts, but neither team could find the back of the net and the quarter ended with a 1-1 score.

The second quarter began much the same as the first, with a Robarge face-off win. The Keydets, however, turned the ball over moments later. Wagner could not convert, and after the ensuing VMI clear, Bosse found Keith Long for the go-ahead goal at the 12:46 mark, putting the Keydets up 2-1.

After another VMI turnover, Wagner got the ball back with 11:21 left in the half and began to pepper McMinn. The VMI keeper stopped each of the visitors' four possessions over the next five minutes with a save. Unfortunately for VMI, after an offside penalty against the Keydets, Cody Isdaner notched the first of his four assists by finding Brian Faughnan for a man-up goal, tying the score once again with 5:40 left in the half.

Over the next 5:40, Wagner outshot VMI 7-0 but could not take its first lead, and the score remained knotted at two at the intermission. The Seahawks had outshot the home team 21-14 over the first 30 minutes, but McMinn's 11 saves had helped keep the score tied.

VMI began the third quarter by winning the face-off once again, and controlled the ball for nearly four of the first five minutes. That trend ended with Tyler Griffith's first career goal, as the sophomore scored a man-up marker off a pass from Brett Leonard. The goal came with 10:18 on the clock, and occurred as the senior, Leonard, found sophomore Griffith cutting into the middle of the defense. He then turned and easily beat Wagner keeper Peter Rubin to give the Keydets the lead once again, 3-2.

The Seahawks, yet again, came back at the Keydets. After a penalty against VMI was successfully killed off around the eight-minute mark, the Keydets were whistled for a second infraction with 6:30 left in the period. Wagner took advantage just 21 seconds later, scoring on another Isdaner to Faughnan connection to tie the score for the third time, 3-3.

Less than two minutes later, VMI's Bosse found Newman for an open shot, and the senior beat Rubin to give VMI the lead back once more, 4-3. That would be the score headed to the final quarter, where the offensive units for both teams found their respective touches.

After combining for seven goals over the first three periods, the two teams matched that total in the first 10 minutes of the fourth. The onslaught began when Long notched his 10th of the year for VMI, just 62 seconds into the quarter, and the Keydets took a 5-3 advantage on his second score of the day. Off the next face-off, VMI took just seven seconds to score. Robarge captured the draw, ran the ball downfield and found Bosse on a quick-strike play. The attacker then beat Rubin to the keeper's left-hand side, pushing the VMI lead to three, 6-3.

Wagner needed just eight seconds to respond, as the Seahawks captured the draw and face-off midfielder Tim Schweitzer beat McMinn, making it 6-4, VMI. Despite the sudden offensive explosion, less than 90 seconds had gone by in the quarter.

Things settled down a bit after that, thanks in large part to five turnovers over the next four-plus minutes. The Keydets were whistled for a slashing infraction as the clock went under 10 minutes, and as they had done all day, the Seahawks capitalized. Isdaner found O'Rourke for the score 22 seconds into the penalty, cutting the Keydet lead to one, 6-5.

VMI came right back with Newman's second score of the day, and with 8:31 to go, it was VMI 7, Wagner 5. Just 27 seconds later, Wagner got back on the board, thanks to an Isdaner goal that cut the deficit to one, 7-6.

The visitors claimed the ensuing face-off, and held possession for the next two minutes. During that time, Wagner got off four shots and had an extra-man chance, but VMI's defense held and the Keydets got the ball back. On the VMI clear, a Wagner defender was able to force the clearing man out of bounds, resulting in a Keydet turnover. Isdaner found William Hedges on the Seahawks' next possession, and Hedges beat McMinn to tie the game with 5:04 left in regulation, 7-7.

The next five minutes were dramatic, beginning with a Wagner possession. With 2:48 to play, Hedges threaded his way inside and appeared to have a clear, one-on-one chance against McMinn from point-blank range. He misfired and sent the attempt bouncing wide, allowing the score to stay tied. The VMI keeper then stopped Hedges to end the possession, and the Keydets had their final chance of regulation. VMI sent a shot wide, and Bosse clanged a shot off the post with 1:02 to play. 

The Seahawks reclaimed possession, but could not take the lead as the contest headed to overtime. It would mark VMI's second overtime contest of the year, and would be the first such contest for the visiting team.

The Keydets would claim the opening face-off and maintain possession for the majority of the first 2:30. A pair of VMI shots went astray, and Wagner was able to get the ball into VMI territory. A Seahawk shot was wide, and the Keydets set up for the clear. On that clear attempt, VMI keeper McMinn misfired a pass that was picked off by Wagner, and the Seahawks appeared to be in position to win the game, as the Keydet netminder was 15-20 yards out of his crease. Unfortunately for Wagner, on the fast-break, one of the passes was underthrown, resulting in a turnover.

VMI got the ball back, but after a turnover by Long, the Seahawks successfully cleared the ball with under a minute left, setting the stage for Travis' heroics.

VMI controlled the face-off X on the day, winning 13 of 19, but the Keydets had 21 turnovers to just 10 for Wagner. The Keydets outgained Wagner in ground balls, 29-25, but were outshot 42-31 in the back-and-forth contest.

In the win, Wagner was led by Isdaner's five points, along with the two goals each from O'Rourke and Faughnan. Rubin had five saves in net for the Seahawks.

Finally, VMI's Tim Moran did not play due to an undisclosed injury.

VMI lacrosse will return to action Wednesday, as the Keydets travel to Emmitsburg, Md. to take on the Mount of Mount St. Mary's. Game time is set for 4 p.m. 
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Players Mentioned

Colin Bosse

#4 Colin Bosse

A
5' 10"
Sophomore
Tyler Griffith

#25 Tyler Griffith

M
5' 10"
Sophomore
Brett Leonard

#10 Brett Leonard

M
5' 11"
Senior
Drew Leonard

#34 Drew Leonard

A
6' 2"
Sophomore
Keith Long

#7 Keith Long

M
6' 3"
Sophomore
Kelly McMinn

#30 Kelly McMinn

G
5' 10"
Sophomore
Tim Moran

#11 Tim Moran

M
5' 9"
Senior
Jesse Newman

#29 Jesse Newman

M
5' 10"
Senior
Stephen Robarge

#37 Stephen Robarge

M-F/O
5' 10"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Colin Bosse

#4 Colin Bosse

5' 10"
Sophomore
A
Tyler Griffith

#25 Tyler Griffith

5' 10"
Sophomore
M
Brett Leonard

#10 Brett Leonard

5' 11"
Senior
M
Drew Leonard

#34 Drew Leonard

6' 2"
Sophomore
A
Keith Long

#7 Keith Long

6' 3"
Sophomore
M
Kelly McMinn

#30 Kelly McMinn

5' 10"
Sophomore
G
Tim Moran

#11 Tim Moran

5' 9"
Senior
M
Jesse Newman

#29 Jesse Newman

5' 10"
Senior
M
Stephen Robarge

#37 Stephen Robarge

5' 10"
Sophomore
M-F/O