Navy Beats Colgate 9-8 In Triple Overtime

Navy junior Joe Lennon scored his team¹s final three goals, including the winner 1 minute 14 seconds into the third overtime in a 9-8 victory over Colgate in a Patriot League semifinal on Friday night in Lewisburg, Pa. The
Midshipmen will face top-seeded Bucknell in the championship game on Sunday at 3 p.m.

The Bison advanced with a 10-8 victory over Army in the first semifinal here.

The Midshipmen (10-4) trailed 8-6 following a goal by junior Zack Craumer with 6 minutes 1 second to play. That was the final goal for the Raiders (9-5).

Lennon scored with 2:51 and 1:21 left in the game, then hit the winner. Overall, midfielders scored eight of nine goals for Navy.

³I shot it low and away,² Lennon said of the winning goal. ³It¹s great to be able to play Sunday. We get to keep the seniors around for another game. And obviously I want to keep playing with my brother [Bobby, a senior
d-middie].²

The Patriot League Tournament winner earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Raiders have a chance at an at-large shot at the NCAA Tournament if they defeat Syracuse on May 2 at the Carrier Dome.

Initially, things looked good for Colgate. Senior standout attackman Brandon Corp was being defended by freshman Matt Vernam. On the opening possession, Corp hit the crossbar with a rocket shot. His second shot was a goal, after
he ran past Vernam and ran over a slide from sophomore Tom Mansfield for a 1-0 lead 3 minutes 4 seconds into the game.

That was his last point. Vernam clamped down after that and several of Corp¹s passes to teammates were not converted. Corp finished 1 for 7 shooting.

In the regular season meeting, a 10-9 Raiders victory, Corp was defended by senior Andy Tormey and had three goals and two assists. On Friday night, Tormey defended senior Kevin Colleluori.

Colleluori entered with 36 goals on 63 shots (57 percent). He finished with one goal but did not take a shot until early in the fourth quarter and he finished with three shots.

Craumer scored a team-high four goals for the Raiders.

³I don¹t think Brandon and Kevin played awful,² Colgate coach Jim Nagle said. ³They¹re a good defensive team. And I felt likeŠBrandon¹s dodging, he was getting some good looks at the cage. He hits [Ian] Murphy, Murphy hits
the pipe in overtime. He hit [Nick] Monastero, Monastero hit a pipe. He hit a pipe. I don¹t think he played badly. We just didn¹t get the breaks.²

The goal by Lennon ended the longest Patriot League Tournament playoff game in conference history. The Raiders were left to regret that they did not push their early 4-1 lead. They had a chance to ice the game in the final
two minutes off an inbounds play when leading 8-7.

On the play, Corp was double-teamed by Vernam and Tormey. In a similar situation in the regular season game, Corp was stripped of the ball to give the Midshipmen one last chance.

On Friday, Corp immediately passed to sophomore Rob Bosco, who was cutting wide-open on top of the crease. But Bosco¹s shot went inches wide and he was called for being in the crease. Lennon tied the game on the ensuing possession.

³Matt Vernam did a good job on Brandon Corp,² Navy coach Richie Meade said. ³He got one at the beginning of the first quarterŠBut after the first quarter, I think they only got two six-on-six goals. And obviously, that had
to happen.²
Another reason Navy¹s defense held Colgate in check after the first quarter was the play of senior defenseman Thomas Zimmerman. He began the year as a starter but was replaced after the Colgate loss.

On Friday, Zimmerman entered the game midway through the first quarter for sophomore Tom Mansfield, who gave up two goals to Craumer and also had an ineffective slide on the lone goal by Corp.

Mansfield is a very good athlete and was highly recruited; his contributions this year include a strong performance against Maryland¹s Ryan Young and a star turn in holding Army¹s Jason Peyer in check.

Zimmerman is not nearly the athlete that Mansfield is ‹ a significant knee injury early in his career put paid to that ‹ but he has the experience of four years on Navy¹s defense, and that experience was very important as the
game wore on. Johns Hopkins exploited Mansfield¹s inexperience last week, and it looked like Colgate was doing the same thing. Zimmerman¹s experience solidified the defense on Friday night and it remains to be seen if he will
start against Bucknell, a noted off-ball team, on Sunday.

Navy will face Bucknell on Sunday to determine who is crowned Patriot Leauge Champion, and earn a berth in the NCAA Lacrosse Tournament.

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For GoNavySports: Seinor Staff Writer

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