LATROBE, Pa. (March 11) – Visiting North Central College scored the game-winning goal with less than six seconds left in the fourth quarter, handing Saint Vincent a 10-9 loss in a non-conference men's lacrosse matchup at UPMC Field.
In the back-and-forth battle, the Bearcats (0-5) scored four of the final five goals of the first half to take an 8-5 lead at halftime, before the Cardinals (4-0) scored five of the game's six second-half goals, capped off with Luke Illgen's game-winner.
Caleb Hawkins recorded a 5-point day to pace the Saint Vincent offense, scoring two goals with three assists.
Jordan Billet add four points, on two goals and two helpers, while
Tyler Harpst scored two goals and
Liam McCall had a goal and an assist.
Fueled by 10 faceoff wins,
Colin Cooper collected a team-leading five ground balls, with
Benjamin Wohlin adding three ground balls, while Sean Ryan paced the SVC defense with two caused turnovers.
Garrett Ritts started in goal and played the full 60 minutes and made a season-high 15 saves.
North Central got off to a hot start, taking a 2-0 lead just three minutes into play, but the Bearcats stormed back, to score four unanswered goals over the final 11 minutes of the quarter. Harpst got SVC on the scoreboard with his strike with 11:22 left, before Hawkins and
Cam Herring scored just 11 seconds apart.
Justin Wodarek then pushed SVC's lead to 4-2 with his goal with 3:21 left in the quarter.
North Central scored the game's next two goals to tie the game at 4-4 with 12:55 left in the half, but the Bearcats went into the intermission with the momentum, as Harpst's man-up goal with 11:09 left in the quarter ignited a 4-1 SVC run, which also included two goals from Billet and one from Hawkins, to take an 8-5 halftime lead.
The Cardinals outscored the Bearcats 3-0 over the third quarter to tie the game, before taking a 9-8 lead on a goal 60 seconds into the fourth quarter. Both teams then tightened up defensively, as they shared a number of scoreless possessions until McCall broke the tie, off of an assist from Billet, with 4:31 left in regulation.
Over the next three minutes, each team had two scoreless trips, before Ryan caused a North Central turnover, corralled the ground ball, and handled the clearing attempt to give SVC possession in its offensive zone with 1:27 left. After taking the shot clock down to within 10 seconds, the Bearcats had a pair of attempts to score on the doorstep, but both were turned aside. With 17 seconds left, the Cardinals gained possession and raced up the field, with Illgen scoring off a quick feed from Evan Watanabe to take the 10-9 lead. The Bearcats won the subsequent faceoff, but time ran out before they were able to generate an offensive chance.
Illgen led North Central with four goals on the day, while Jude Vitale scored three. Cardinals' goalie Aidan Murphy made 12 saves to earn the win.
The Bearcats will now have a quick turnaround, returning to action on Wednesday, March 13, with a 3 p.m. home game against non-conference foe Oberlin College at UPMC Field.
