Williamsport, PA -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's lacrosse team played its first postseason game as a member of the United East Conference on Wednesday, taking on the 2nd seeded Penn College Wildcats in Williamsport. The Panthers struggled to find their footing out of the gate, falling behind early in the first. They were able to break through and score in the 2nd half but fell 29-6.
The hosts jumped on the Panthers from the opening whistle. scoring just over a minute after the start of the game. Austyn Stack won the ensuing faceoff and had his shot blocked, but the Wildcats took over from there. They maintained possession for the majority of the opening quarter, pushing their lead to 10-0 before the Panthers attempted their next shot with 8 minutes left in the quarter. Luke Amberman, Reid Kristufek, and Evan Hawley all had shots that missed the net or were blocked before Penn College regained momentum and tacked on three more goals before the end of the quarter.
A penalty on the Wildcats just before the end of the opening quarter gave the Panthers possession to begin the 2nd with a player in the penalty box. The Panthers took advantage and scored just 15 seconds after the restart. Pitt-Bradford passed the ball around the defense from right to left, and after Amberman fed Logan Watts behind the net, Watts countered back to Amberman, who released a quick, low shot that snuck under the goalie for the Panthers opening goal. The Wildcats got the goal back directly after the restart and then added four more goals to their tally before the Panthers responded. With just over 3:11 remaining, Watts and Amberman swapped roles, as Watts scored the Panthers second goal off an assist by Amberman. The freshman attacker intercepted a clearance attempt by the Wildcats and quickly fed Watts, who was behind the defense for a breakaway goal. The hosts added one more goal before halftime, sending the game to the break with Pitt-Bradford trailing 19-2.
The Panthers responded after the break, opening the 2nd half by scoring 4 of the first 5 goals. First, Mikey Blake possessed the ball behind the net and danced around his defender, looking for an opening. He found Amberman at the top of the zone, who caught and fired a shot from low to high into the net. Just under two minutes later, Watts added his second. Amberman restarted possession after a missed shot by Sam Kemp and sent a pass to Watts on the far side through the heart of the Wildcat defense. Watts Caught and shot to the near post, doubling his tally.
After the Wildcats got a goal back, the Panthers tacked on two more. Off of another restart on the right flank, Evan Hawley sprinted around the Penn defense to the top of the zone. He skipped a pass to Amberman on the left flank, who quickly released another low-to-high shot to find the net for his third. With 4:30 remaining in the quarter, Austyn Stack probed the defense for an opening, sprinted to the right flank, and drew a double team from the hosts. He slipped a pass back to Hawley in front of the net who calmly beat the goalie from close range to score the Panthers' 6th of the game. The hosts regained momentum after the Hawley goal, scoring 4 times before the end of the quarter to take a 24-6 lead into the final period.
In the 4th, Evan Stack made 3 early saves, but could not hold off the Wildcat attack for long. The hosts scored 5 more times in the final stanza to put the final tally at 29-6.
Luke Amberman led the offense with 3 goals and 2 assists. He took 11 shots in the game, putting 7 on target. Logan Watts scored 2 goals and added an assist, while Evan Hawley scored one and assisted another. Austyn Stack and Mikey Blake also registered assists for the Panthers. Hunter Shank started the game in goal and picked up the loss. He made 6 saves in 22 minutes of action. Evan Stack played the final 37 minutes, making 9 saves.
The Panthers finish the season with an 11-7 record. They await the results of all-conference voting, which will be released in the coming weeks.
