Bradford, PA -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's lacrosse team returned home on Saturday to take on Juniata at Rathburn Family Field. The Panthers allowed the visitors to tie the game in the final seconds of regulation, but scored in overtime to pick up the 10-9 win.
The Panthers did not need long to open the scoring, as Austyn Stack put them in front after ten seconds. Stack won the opening draw and quickly moved into the offensive zone. He got off a quick shot, beating the keeper high for the opener. Hunter Shank made a pair of saves over the next few minutes to keep the Panthers in front before Mikey Blake doubled the score. After five minutes of play, Blake took possession of the ball behind the goal. The freshman moved to his left and then spun back, moving to the front of the goal. From a sharp angle, he fired a high shot into the far post to double the lead. Pitt-Bradford continued to attack and tacked on two more goals. With 6 minutes left in the first, Luke Amberman picked up a ground ball in front of the crease. He quickly sprang into attack and bounced a shot past the goalie. A minute later, he doubled his tally. He received a pass from David De La Teja on the right wing and released a low shot that bounced between a defender and the goalie's leg to put the Panthes up 4-1. The Eagles pulled one back with 3:25 left in the quarter. The Panthers looked to restore the 4-goal advantage, but despite having 5 shots, could not add to the lead.
The Eagles opened the second quarter with a goal after 39 seconds, but Logna Watts was able to match it two minutes later. Jaden Freeland found Watts on the left flank, who caught the pass and quickly released a high shot into the net. The Eagles cut the lead to two with 10 minutes remaining in the half, but Stack pushed the lead back to three with a goal 3 minutes later. Sam Kemp held the ball on the right flank and found Stack streaking through the middle of the defense. The freshman caught the pass and bounced a shot into the goal for his second of the game. Heading into the break, the visitors scored two more times to go to halftime with Pitt-Bradford leading 6-5.
To begin the 2nd half, the Panthers had the first two chances to score as Reid Kristufek hit the post and AMberman had a shot saved. Eventually, the Panthers' attack slowed, and the Eagles took advantage, tying the game after 6 minutes of play in the quarter. With the score tied, the Eagles continued to push, and despite a pair of Shank saves, the visitors took their first lead of the game with 4 minutes left in the quarter.
Trailing for the first time, the Panthers rallied to begin the 4th quarter. Kristufek had three chances to tie the game in the opening minutes, missing the net once and hitting the crossbar before finally bouncing a shot in to even the score. Four minutes later, the Panthers went back in front. After Tristan Kessler picked up a ground ball on a Shank save, the Panthes sprang into a counterattack. Logan Giles completed a clear pass and then tipped a pass to Watts. The freshman attacker found Blake on the wing, who started a 2-on-0 break, and passed to Evan Hawley on the far side, who easily put a shot into the open net to give the Panthers an 8-7 lead. The Eagles tied the game with 5:34 remaining, but the Panthers had an answer two minutes later. After a turnover, Kaua Dos Santos Da Silva picked up the ground ball and started the attack. He moved into the offensive zone and passed to Amberman, who quickly fed another pass to Watts next to the goal. Watts caught the pass and quickly shot from close range into the goal.
With under a minute left, the Panthers seemed to have stopped the Eagles' final attack when Alex Arno picked up a ground ball. Unfortunately, he was forced into an errant pass, which gave the visitors an opportunity to tie the game, which they took advantage of, scoring with 14 seconds left. The Panthers lost the resulting faceoff, but stopped Juniata one more time to send the game into overtime.
In the extra period, the Panthers had the first opportunity after 90 seconds, but Kemp's shot was saved. Pitt-Bradford had another opportunity seconds later after a cross-checking penalty on the Eagles. The Panthers were not able to get a shot off, turning the ball over shortly after the restart. The visitors used a timeout to set up their offense, but Nick Hause was able to force a turnover behind the goal to give the Panthers one more shot to win in the overtime period. Following a Pitt-Bradford timeout, Stack had two shots, but neither was on target. With 30 seconds on the clock, the Panthers found a winner. Watts restarted play behind the net and caught the Eagles sleeping. He crept to the side of the goal and flicked a backhanded shot past the goalie for the winner.
Logan Watts led the Panthers with 3 goals. He took 13 shots and put 7 on goal. Luke Amberman and Austyn Stack each scored twice. Amberman added an assist, while Stack won 12 of 20 faceoffs. Evan Hawley, Reid Kristufek, and Mikey Blake also scored for Pitt-Bradford. Hunter Shank (4-1) made 20 saves in the win.
The victory moves the Panthers to 4-1 on the season. They will be back in action on Wednesday, March 4th, when they host Keuka. The Opening draw is slated for 4:00 p.m.
