[Baltimore Sun] Navy men’s lacrosse uses strong second half to pull away from Holy Cross, 17-7
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Navy men’s lacrosse struggled offensively in the first half of Saturday’s game against Holy Cross. The Midshipmen were limited to six goals and endured two lengthy droughts.
Holy Cross goalie Dawson Friers played a pivotal role in shutting down the home team by making seven saves. Coach J.L. Reppert switched goalie at halftime for some reason, replacing Friers with sophomore JR Long. That decision backfired on the Crusaders in a big way as Long gave up 11 goals without making a save.
Senior midfielder Max Hewitt had a hat trick to lead a balanced offense as Navy used a strong second half to beat Holy Cross, 17-7, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Junior attackman Henry Tolker totaled two goals and two assists, while senior running mate Xavier Arline added a goal and three assists for the Mids, which scored seven straight goals to take a commanding 12-4 lead 45 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Short stick defensive midfielder Jackson Peters scored two goals and assisted another, while third line midfielder Keegan Houser (Broadneck High) and backup attackman Carter Ash scored two goals apiece as Navy (5-4 overall) improved to 2-1 in the Patriot League.
Reppert said afterward the plan going into the game was to have Friers and Long split halves. “When you make that decision you have to kind of just go with it,” said Reppert, who played lacrosse at Navy and later served as an assistant coach at his alma mater.
Navy scored five of its six first-half goals in transition or unsettled situations. The Midshipmen struggled to beat the Crusaders six-on-six and Friers was a big reason why.
“Holy Cross played their tails off in the first half. We couldn’t break the shell six-on-six and that was frustrating,” Navy coach Joe Amplo said.
Amplo was surprised Reppert switched goalies considering Friers had the hot hand, but also knew he had been doing so in recent games.
“I don’t think it worked out in his favor,” Amplo said of the decision. “I also think we played better offense and got better looks in the second half. It wasn’t all the goalie’s fault.”
Navy plebe Joey Bucci won 10 of 14 faceoffs in the second half after replacing an injured Zach Hayashi. Amplo said the Malvern Prep product was essentially a walk-on to the team who has “made himself into a pretty darn good college faceoff guy.” However, Hayashi has been so good so far this season that Bucci had taken only 12 draws to date.
“I was most proud of Joe Bucci. The kid goes in after Zach went down and goes 10 of 14 in the second half. That won us the game because we were able to keep momentum and stop any run they would have potentially had,” Amplo said. “When you get the news that the kid who is our emotional leader is not going to play in the second half, you’re worried as a coach about how the team is going to respond.”
After scoring just two goals in the span of 19 ½ minutes in the first half, Navy suddenly struck for two goals in the first two minutes of the second. Peters delivered a great feed to Tolker for an easy goal from the doorstep then Hewitt stuck a low-to-high crank shot into the top corner to energize the Mids.
“I think we just started to beat some guys one-on-one. We finally figured out how to beat their short sticks and draw a slide,” Amplo said. “We moved the ball a lot better in the second half because we weren’t getting as much transition. We were forced to play the game in the box and our guys played better with the ball in their stick.”
Hewitt blamed Navy’s offensive struggles in the first half on simply being sloppy and not executing the game plan. The Mids scored six goals on 20 shots in the first half and 11 goals on 18 shots in the second.
“I think in the first half we weren’t dodging hard and doing the things we were supposed to be doing in terms of running our offense and being in the right spots,” Hewitt said. “I think in the second half we were dodging much harder and moving the ball much better. That led to better looks and goals. We were able to take better shots in the second half.”
Luca Ward scored two goals to lead Holy Cross (2-6, 0-4). Goalie Dan Daly recorded 11 saves for Navy, which has held Holy Cross to single digits for goals in 16 of 19 meetings.
Reppert felt the Holy Cross offense committed too many turnovers in the second half and the transition defense was subpar.
“You’ve got to give credit to Navy for stepping up and playing better in the second half. A lot of it was that they had the ball more,” Reppert said. “That’s a really talented group on offense. They were sharing the ball and getting great looks and they canned them.”
Holy Cross (2-6, 0-4) 3-1-0-3=7
Navy (5-4, 2-1) 4-2-5-6=17
GOALS: HC — Ward 2, Major, Bonomo, Stahl, Messineo, Kratovil. N — Hewitt 3, Tolker 2, Peters 2, Ash 2, Houser 2, Arline, Swanson, Hovivian, Hayashi, Garza, Haley. ASSISTS: HC — Bonomo, Major, Mitchell, Reding, Webster. N — Arline 3, Tolker 2, Conway, Hovivian, Peters, Ripley, Swanson. SHOTS: HC — 33. N — 38. SAVES: HC — Friers 7, Stanton 1. N — Daly 11. FACEOFFS: HC — 10. N — 18. GROUND BALLS: HC — 33. N — 39.
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