WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – There was some magic in a rain that fell throughout the game the last time that the Lycoming College men's lacrosse team hosted a conference tournament game. The year was 2014 and it was the first year of head coach
Chris Scanlon's tenure. Sean Reilly came around a corner and ripped a shot through the rain into the upper right netting in overtime, lifting the Warriors to a dramatic postseason win, its first in 10 years and earn a spot in the conference semifinals.
In the next three years, an undersized team improved each year, from three wins in 2015 to four in 2016 until coming an overtime goal in the final game of the regular-season away from reentering the postseason in 2017.
The upward trajectory was there, but in 2018, the Warriors started to climb the mountain in big leaps rather than gradual steps, jumping from a 5-9 2017 season to a 9-6 record this year. Along the way, the Warriors defeated MAC Commonwealth foes Lebanon Valley for the first time since 2014 and Albright for the first time since 2012.
What that helped add up to was a remarkable turnaround with the Warriors securing their first winning season since 2011 with a 12-6 win over Arcadia in the regular season finale on Saturday, a 5-3 record in conference play and the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament, where it will open the tournament on Monday, April 30, against No. 5 seed Lebanon Valley at 4 p.m. in the friendly confines of the Shangraw Athletic Complex.
Tickets for the contest will be available at the Union Avenue main gate. Adults are $5, seniors $4, students $2 and children under 6 are free. Lycoming students will be free with their ID. While MAC season passes will be accepted, Lycoming Athletics Complimentary passes will not be accepted at the gate. Only cash will be accepted at the gate.
The winner of Monday's game will move on to face top-seeded Stevenson in a conference semifinal on Wednesday, May 2, at 7 p.m. at Mustangs Stadium. No. 3 Widener travels to No. 2 Messiah for the other semifinal at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, with the winners of the two games meeting in the conference championship on Saturday, May 5, at the site of the highest seed remaining.
After opening the season with the team's first win over Susquehanna since 2012, the Warriors battled through a challenging non-conference season, taking its lumps in the form of 17-8 losses to No. 15 Ithaca and Otterbein, but also picking up an 8-1 win over CSAC semifinalist Gwynedd Mercy and a 5-4 win over SUNYAC semifinalist Brockport.
The Warriors are led by a talented and experience attack group which includes three 40-point scorers. Junior
Andrew Ream (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) is second in the MAC Commonwealth in goal scoring, piling in 43 tallies this year while adding nine assists. Sophomore
Drew Collins (Victor, N.Y./Victor) has been a welcome accomplice, posting 34 goals and adding 13 assists, while sophomore
Tyler Thompson (Napean, Ontario/Mother Teresa) leads the league in assists, posting 33 assists to go with 13 goals.
In the midfield, senior
Garrett Huff (Corning, N.Y./Corning East) and junior
Travis Rode (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon) have helped jumpstart the offense and also served willing defensive roles. Team captain Huff has posted 22 goals and 12 assists after earning Second Team All-MAC Commonwealth honors as a junior. Rode, meanwhile, has posted 10 goals, eight assists, 26 groundballs and nine caused turnovers.
The team has also gotten a boost at the faceoff 'x', where junior
Alex Artur (Cinnaminson, N.J./Cinnaminson) has won 51 percent while also grabbing 74 groundballs, the most for a Warrior since 2013.
Defensively, the team has developed into one of the best units in the conference, allowing six or fewer goals in seven games thanks to the presence of an experienced group that includes four juniors. Sophomore
Sam Pollock (Wrightsville, Pa./Eastern York) is one of the leaders of the group, posting 24 groundballs and 10 caused turnovers and junior
Cole Masterson (Honeoye Falls, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima) has been counted on as well, posting 36 groundballs and 16 caused turnovers. Junior longstick midfielder
Austin Arroyo (Shillington, Pa./Governor Mifflin) has also been a key force defensively, posting 35 groundballs and 15 caused turnovers.
Junior
Michael Tenant (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall) is in the midst of a remarkable season in goal, sitting second in the league in save percentage (.588) and saves per game (12.20) and third in goals against average (8.91). He has earned three MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week awards and one USILA Team of the Week nod, all while winning all nine of the Warriors' games in net.
Lebanon Valley (9-7 overall, 4-4 MAC Commonwealth) clinched the playoff berth with a 7-5 win over over Albright on Saturday. The top defense in the MAC Commonwealth, the Flying Dutchmen allow just 6.62 goals against per game. Offensively, the team is led by Kevin Beaver, who has 28 goals and 11 assists.
In the first meeting between the two squads, the Warriors used a four-goal second quarter flurry to post an 8-4 win at Lebanon Valley. Lebanon Valley fired 32 shots and forced Tenant to make 13 saves, but just three in the second half. Artur won 9-of-11 faceoffs and Thompson led the team offensively with two goals and three assists.
