Joe Clark vs. Susquehanna 3/25/17
7
Susquehanna SUS 7-3, 0-1 Landmark
9
Winner Elizabethtown ETOWN 6-3, 2-0 Landmark
Susquehanna SUS
7-3, 0-1 Landmark
7
Final
9
Elizabethtown ETOWN
6-3, 2-0 Landmark
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Susquehanna SUS 1 1 2 3 7
Elizabethtown ETOWN 3 1 2 3 9

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse |

Clark collects 200th point, Blue Jays score late to down Susquehanna

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- Joe Clark eclipsed 200 career points and willed Elizabethtown to a 9-7 Landmark Conference victory over Susquehanna with the game-winning goal late in the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon at Wolf Field.

Clark joined Aaron Weber '10 in rarefied air as the only players in Elizabethtown College men's lacrosse history to score 200 points in a career when he found Cody Larkin from behind the cage for a goal with 3:58 left in the second quarter that put the Blue Jays in front 4-2.

E-town led for much of the afternoon, but never by more than three goals in a scrap between two of the Landmark's upper echelon teams.

Jason Clough got the Jays (5-3, 2-0 Landmark) on the board first, ripping a shot by Susquehanna goalie Dylan Abplanalp 41 seconds in.

The River Hawks (7-3, 0-1) answered six seconds later with the first of two Chet McLaughlin goals, but Phil Kyger (8:12) and Dan Bednarik (4:01) scored for the Blue Jays before the quarter was through to give the home side a 3-1 advantage.

Leading 3-2 late in the half, Larkin took Clark's pass in stride as he bolted towards the cage from the left side and rifled one through Abplanalp for a 4-2 lead. It was E-town's only goal of the second quarter.

Susquehanna again drew within a goal after McLaughlin opened the third quarter scoring with his 31st goal of the season. Elizabethtown turned to seniors Nick Specht and Bednarik for a response.

Specht restored E-town's two-goal lead at 10:37 and just 61 seconds later, Bednarik's second of the day gave the Blue Jays their largest lead of the day, 6-3.

Alec Tzaneteas almost single-handedly brought the River Hawks back with three goals during a 4-1 run by the visitors that ended with Preston Ouellette's man-up goal that tied the game, 7-7, with 4:56 to play in regulation.

Suppressed offensively for a majority of the afternoon, Clark found a hole and unleashed a bullet to beat Abplanalp with the eventual game-winning goal at 3:40 of the fourth quarter.

Freshman Kyle Pienik, who won 7 of 15 face-offs, came up his biggest one on the ensuing draw and the Jays cashed in shortly thereafter when Larkin found Kyger for a 9-7 lead at 2:53.

From there, it was freshman goalie Tom Mahoney's time to shine. The Hillsborough, New Jersey, native outdueled Abplanalp, last year's Landmark Rookie of the Year and made several big saves down the stretch to preserve Elizabethtown's two-goal lead.

Three of Mahoney's nine saves came in the final 2:21 --two against Tzaneteas-- before Tzaneteas took an unnecessary roughness penalty with 1:12 left and the Blue Jays were able to run out the clock.

Elizabethtown held a 28-24 shot advantage and were 15 of 19 on clears. The River Hawks got the better of the Jays at the dot, winning 11 of 20 face-offs, including 10 by Pierce Mead. SU also had the edge in ground balls, 37-29.

Luke Stephens forced two more turnovers Saturday to run his league-leading total to 15 and also grabbed a game-high eight ground balls. Jeremy Klipple added a game-high three caused turnovers, while Nick Specht and Mike Specht each had two. Klipple has moved into second in the Landmark in CTs with 14 and Nick Specht is tied for third with 11.

Saturday's victory extended Elizabethtown's Landmark Conference regular season winning streak to 15 games (15-0) since joining the conference prior to the 2015 season. The Blue Jays step out of conference to face Misericordia on the road Wednesday, March 29, at 4 p.m.

 
Print Friendly Version