Williamsburg, KY – The fourth-seed UC men's lacrosse team netted five straight goals capped off by
Will Rogers game-winning goal with 1:19 remaining as the Patriots erased a four-goal deficit to knock off top-seed Reinhardt in the semifinals of the AAC Tournament Friday afternoon at the UC Lacrosse Complex. With the win, the Patriots advance to their fifth consecutive AAC title game, while they improve to 12-4 on the season.
Three Patriots finished the game with hattricks, including Rogers, who netted all three of his goals in the final four minutes of regulation.
Maalek Wilson notched his fourth hat trick of the year and his second against Reinhardt, while
Dawson Coltran recorded his fourth hat trick in the last five games.
Chrystian Coleman,
Tanner Popovich, and
Christian Vanover finished with two points apiece.
Defensively,
Gabe Schwaiger and Coleman notched three caused turnovers and combined to scooped 10 ground balls.
Schylar Chapman scooped five ground balls as
Michael Toohey made 13 saves including six in the first quarter.
Both teams came out with strong defensive efforts as Toohey made three saves in the first three minutes to keep the game scoreless. Two minutes later, Liam Wright made one of his three first quarter saves for Reinhardt and on the transition Stefan Duckett netted the first goal of the game to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead with 7:46 remaining. UC looked for the equalizer as Vanover's shot ricochet off the pipe on their next offensive possession, however, a couple minutes later Popovich found Wilson cutting towards the cage for a goal to tie the score at 1-1. The two goalies combined for three saves as score remained even after the opening quarter.
Reinhardt won the opening faceoff of the second quarter and on that possession netted a goal to retake the lead. Less than a minute later,
Owen Hebenstreit forced a turnover and Coleman scooped the ground ball, raced up field and fired a shot into the back of the cage to tie the game at 2-2. The two teams trade goals, before Reinhardt netted two straight to take a 5-3 lead with 4:00 minutes remaining in the period. UC cut into the deficit as Vanover dodge in and put a well-placed shot, just under the crossbar for a goal making it 5-4 with 2:57 left. Cumberlands looked for the equalizer, however, Wright made a pair of saves to keep Reinhardt's one-goal lead intact.
Both teams made halftime adjustments and came out of the break with strong defensive efforts as Toohey made three stops to keep the Eagles lead at 5-4. The score remained that way until the 6:25 mark when Wilson dodge towards the goal from the right side and put a well-placed shot just inside the post for the equalizer tying the game at 5-5. Just over a minute later, Wilson complete his hat trick as he netted his career-high 20
th goal of the season to give Cumberlands a 6-5 lead with 5:16 remaining. Brady Hanak scored twice in the closing minutes of the quarter, including a man-up goal to put Reinhardt in front 7-6.
The Eagles added three of the first four goals of the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 10-7 with 11:49 remaining. Reinhardt looked to add more, however, Toohey turned them away. Hanak added his game-high fourth goal to make it 11-7 with 6:18 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Patriots won the next faceoff and on the ensuing possession Coltran ripped a shot into the upper corner of the cage to cut the deficit to three.
Oscar Reyes won the next faceoff and as Coleman brought the ball up-field he fired a shot for his second goal of the game to make it 11-10 with 3:03 remaining. Coleman scooped the ground ball off the next faceoff and on that possession Rogers split three defenders and did a pump-fake before scoring the equalizer with 2:40 left. Reinhardt won the faceoff, however,
Chandler Muth forced a turnover to give UC the possession. A minute later, Coltran dodged in and lost possession but Rogers scooped it up and put it home to give Cumberlands a 12-11 lead with 1:19 remaining. Reinhardt looked for to tie the game but
Gabe Schwaiger forced a turnover as the Patriots ran out the clock for the 12-11 final.
The four-goal fourth quarter deficit was the largest fourth quarter deficit that the Patriots have overcome in program history. It also marks the first time AAC tournament history that UC has defeated Reinhardt and it's just the Patriots second win over the Eagles.
Cumberlands advance to tomorrow's championship game, where they will face #2 Keiser at 3 p.m. at the UC Lacrosse Complex. Keiser defeated Webber 10-2 in the other semifinals.
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