Photo Courtesy of Susquehanna Athletics
By Ashley Nace
The Susquehanna’s Men’s Lacrosse team went out with a bang with 14-8 win in their final game of the regular season against Goucher on Wednesday at Sassafras Multipurpose Field.
The win puts the River Hawks in the fifth seed of the Landmark Conference playoffs with an 8-9 record.
The River Hawks came out quick to start the game with senior Jimmy Maro scoring the first goal assisted by fellow senior Nick Remund to establish Susquehanna’s game-lasting lead.
“We knew before the game that we were going to be getting a lot of possession because of how we excel on the face offs and wing play, and it was just a matter of our offense capitalizing off of our possessions,” said Pat McDermott, who earned his 100-career point in the game.
First-year Matt Chubenko scored on an assist from junior Reese Ackerman after the face off, but Goucher put their first number on the board shortly after.
Chubenko earned another goal assisted by Maro right before Goucher after two failed shots, finally finished on the third, bringing the score to 3-2 Susquehanna.
McDermott scored a goal for the River Hawks right after Goucher’s goal. Sophomore Gabe Broome scored just after him off a Goucher turnover.
The Gophers called a timeout, but the River Hawks’ Ackerman put another goal in assisted by McDermott as soon as play restarted.
With a 6-2 lead, the River Hawks continued to barrel down with more shots until Ackerman scored a goal with 3:15 left.
Junior Drew Filipovits came up big at the end of the first quarter with an assist on Chubenko’s goal in the final 10 seconds and a final shot on the Goucher net as the buzzer sounded.
“We like to try a lot of new things and guys this year are very eager about getting better every single day,” said McDermott. “At the end of the day we open each other up for open looks.”
With a fiery 8-2 lead in the first quarter, the River Hawks looked to keep the momentum rolling.
Susquehanna started off the second quarter with three shots on Goucher’s net, but unsuccessful shots would be a theme of the quarter for Susquehanna.
After two more shots were fired, Chubenko took another, but it was also saved.
Then came a rampage of River Hawk shots. Susquehanna ran down the Gopher’s with 11 shots in the span of under two minutes. Four from Maro, three from McDermott, and three from Chubenko, until finally Chubenko’s fourth was successful.
A Gopher’s goal at 6:08 brought the score to 9-3. Chubenko ripped a couple more shots before Goucher secured another goal with under two minutes left.
The Gopher’s picked it up at the end of the first half, but the River Hawks were set on their lead.
“Just keeping our heads in the game and knowing that we can’t get complacent when we have a big lead,” said McDermott about the importance of focus throughout the game.
Goucher came out hungry with two goals to start the second half, but Kieran Koenke scored off a Maro assist to bring Susquehanna back in.
Unnecessary roughness on Goucher gave Susquehanna a man-up opportunity, which Remund took advantage of, assisted by McDermott.
Maro scored off the restart as well, bringing the score to 12-6. The Gopher’s had a few nice attempts near the end of the quarter, but the River Hawks’ defense and goaltender shut it down.
The final quarter wrapped everything up nicely for the River Hawks.
After unnecessary roughness was called on Goucher again, Maro scored the first goal, assisted by McDermott, giving McDermott his 100th career point.
His 100 points are an even 50/50 split of goals and assists.
A good attempt by Goucher lead to an immediate counterattack by the River Hawks, giving sophomores Brendan Gleason a goal and Will Harcourt an assist.
Off the face off, the Gophers passed around the Susquehanna net and took a wide open, far shot that bounced off the left post and went in. As if a replay, their next goal was scored from the same spot in the same corner of Susquehanna’s net.
But the rest of the quarter was smooth sailing for the River Hawks, as they secured the 14-8 win and the fifth seed in Landmark playoffs.
“Our goal for playoffs is to be the best lacrosse team we’ve been all season,” said McDermott.
The River Hawks outshot the Gophers 59-28, with leading scorers being Chubenko with four and Maro with three. McDermott led with three assists and Harcourt collected five saves.
“I’m excited to see what we can accomplish this Saturday and beyond,” McDermott said.
The River Hawks will make their stand at Moravian on Saturday, April 25 in the first round of the Landmark Conference Championships.