Greenville, PA -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's lacrosse team was back on the road Wednesday, taking on Thiel College. The Panthers evenly split the first six goals with the Tomcats but then scored 11 in a row on the way to an 18-4 victory.
The Panthes got off to another quick start, scoring within a minute of the opening draw. After a missed shot, the Panthers found Reid Kristufek on the left wing. The junior midfielder beat the Thiel defender to the middle fo the field and ripped a shot into the upper 90 for the opening goal. The hosts responded and tied the game with a goal just over a minute later, but the Panthers had another quick response. Tristan Kessler won the faceoff and found Logan Watts behind the goal. Watts passed to Luke Amberman on the wing, who sent a low shot into the goal for the first of many goals on the day.
Thiel tied the game a few minutes later, leading to a 9-minute stretch that saw the goalies and defense keep the score from changing. Pitt-Bradford drew a penalty with 1:25 left in the quarter and used the man advantage well. An Amberman shot was parried away into the Thiel goal, but the Panthers maintained possession, and Watts was able to pass to Kristufek, who deposited another shot into the goal for his second of the game. The Panthers did not retain their lead into the second quarter, however, as Thiel equalized 16 seconds after the restart.
Once the game moved into the second quarter, the Panthers took complete control. The Panthers not only outscored the Tomcats 7-0 in the period, but also limited them to just one shot, which was saved by Hunter Shank in the Panther goal. After 3 minutes of play in the quarter, the Panthers picked up a ball in the midfield and swiftly moved into attack. Logan Watts carried the ball into the offensive zone and passed to Amberman near the goal line, who fired a sharp-angle shot into the goal to double his tally for the day. A minute later, the Panthers were finally able to begin building momentum, as they scored their second goal that started a string that would end at eleven. Jaden Freeland found Sam Kemp open in the middle of the defense. The freshman attacker received the pass and quickly shot towards the goal, beating the goalie for his second of the year.
The last 8 minutes of the half turned into the Amberman and Watts show, as the pair combined to score the final 5 goals of the period. With 7:52 left in the quarter, Amberman caught a pass from David De La Teja behind the net. He sprinted to the goal mouth and, after leaping past the defender, placed a shot into the goal for his third of the game. Seconds later, Amberman turned provider, picking up an assist on a Watts goal. After a turnover in the midfield, Joe LeFurge found Amberman open in the middle of the field, creating an odd-man rush. The Freshman attacker drew the defender in and then dropped a pass to Watts on his left for an easy goal. Watts found the net again two minutes later, sneaking a shot between two Thiel defenders and the goalie following a pass from Kemp.
In the final 90 seconds, the Panthers added two more to their tally. Kemp sent a pass to Amberman across the defense with 1:35 on the clock, and Amberman quickly caught it and sent a shot back to the far side, into the netting for his 4th of the game. With the clock ticking down to its final moments in the half, the Panthers found one more goal. After a turnover in transition by Thiel, Amberman picked up the groundball and quickly fed Watts, who was alone behind the defense. Watts calmly collected the pass and beat the goalie one-on-one for his third of the game.
Pitt-Bradford struggled to regain momentum after the restart; however, the defense stayed resolute, fighting off multiple extra-man opportunities to keep the lead at 7. Shank made 4 saves in an 8-minute stretch that saw neither team score. Amberman ended that stretch with just under 7 mintues left in the quarter, scoring his 5th of the game off a pass from Kemp. IT started a dominant stretch for Amberman, who would go on to score the next 3 goals of the game. Rocco Fera picked up a ground ball after the ensuing faceoff, and after moving into the offensive zone, fed Ambeman for another long-distance shot and goal.
Amberman added a spectacular goal minutes later. While cutting across the goal mouth, he received a pass from Reid Kristufek. While running to his right, Amberman whipped a no-look shot behind his back, which bounced off the post and goalie and trickled over the line. With a minute remaining in the quarter, Amberman scored his 8th of the game. After a missed shot, he put the ball back in play and ran a give-and-go with Watts from behind the net. He caught the pass next to the goal and, while jumping in front, beat the goalie high to extend the lead to 14-3.
Due to a late penalty on the Panthers, Thiel started the 4th with possession and took advantage. They forced Shank into an early save, and then, after a Panther turnover, were able to beat Shank for their 4th. Pitt-Bradford had an immediate response. They won the faceoff and quickly went into attack. They ran the shot clock down before AJ Nardi caught the Tomcats napping. With the ball behind the net, he sprinted to the goal from the back side, where Kristufek found him for a goal. It was his first of the season.
In the final 8 minutes, the Panthers tacked on three more goals. At the 7:22 mark, Kristufek found Watts in traffic, who released a quick, high shot to score his 4th of the game. A minute later, Christian Wilkening scored his first Panther goal. The long-stick midfielder cautiously moved toward the goal, where Watts found him wide open. He caught the pass and whipped a shot into the top corner for a goal. In the final minute, the Panthers went a man-up and took advantage when Christian Beasley scored his first career goal on an assist from Stack.
Luke Amberman set a new program record in the win, scoring 8 goals. He took 17 shots, with 12 of them on target. He also registered 1 assist and 9 ground balls. Logan Watts also had a productive evening, scoring 4 times while assisting on 3 more. Reid Kristufek scored twice and added 2 assists, while Sam Kemp finished with one goal and two helpers. AJ Nardi, Christian Beasley, and Christian Wilkening also added goals. Hunter Shank picked up the win after making 11 saves for Pitt-Bradford.
The Panthers move to 2-0 to start their season. They will have their home opener on Saturday, when they host Washington & Jefferson at Rathburn Family Field. The game is slated to begin at 2:00 p.m.
