Crusaders Unable to Keep 3rd Quarter Momentum; Franciscan Uses 8-3 Run to Claim Tuesday's Win
IRVING, Texas – The University of Dallas men's lacrosse team competed hard with an identical record Franciscan University team on Tuesday. With both squads seeking the first win of 2020, the visitors achieved the desired result with a 13-9 final thanks to a 4-0 run that propelled the Barons to an eventual 8-3 run to close the last 17 minutes of the second half.
Each team surpassed 40 shots with the Crusaders (0-4) reaching double-digits in the second and fourth quarters. Micah Eby kept busy as the goalie for 56:02 minutes, as he logged 12 of the team's 15 saves in the match. The Barons (1-3) had four saves in the second and eight in the last 15 minutes, which was the most by either side in a period.
Dallas trailed 5-3 at the half after a frustrating second quarter saw UD pull within a goal two times, but unable to tie things. That changed in the third quarter, as the home team rattled off a trio of goals within less than a two-minute span to tie and go up 6-5.
The Barons answered with three goals in under the last four minutes and provided the 5-3 fourth quarter to secure the triumph.
Michael Araps notched the first two goals and only ones of the first quarter. After one around a minute in with Thomas Thomas assisting, the Crusaders kept the score right there until a buzzer beater doubled the margin. This was despite a 13-5 difference in total shots that period.
UD edged the Barons by seven (15-8) in the next quarter. An early goal by Tucker Jameson (Mechanicsville, Md.) after a UD faceoff win started the frame with a positive note to make it 2-1. Franciscan survived a five-shot barrage over the next three minutes with Eby turning away two shots faced and another hitting the post.
Seth Arangua scored to make it 3-1 at 10:32 on a helper from Thomas.
Moments later, Austin Gibbons (St. Charles, Ill.) capitalized on one-of-two Dallas man-up goals in the game to nip the deficit back to one.
Jonathon Lee put the Barons up 4-2 with Dominic Rohan assisting, and then Jameson found the other man-advantaged goal at 2:36.
All three Fransican goals were assisted in the second, with Joe Miraglia being fed by Araps to keep the lead at two going to the break.
Over eight minutes of scoreless lacrosse passed through the third until Gibbons broke through on an assist from Tommy Chadwick (Tampa, Fla.). J.P. Hasson (Fairfax, Va.), who played for the first time this season and since 2018, netted goals at 6:22 and 5:10 to even the game again and give Dallas its lone lead of the match.
Thomas sent home the equalizer at 3:53 and Arangua and Miraglia had late goals in under two minutes and within 15 seconds to change the momentum back to the visitor's bench.
Gibbons, who scored a season and team-high five goals, was responsible for all three for UD in the last quarter. His first to secure the hat trick came from Jameson at 13:02 and make it 9-7. That goal snapped four straight by Franciscan. A man-up goal made it 10-7, and then Gibbons came through at 6:42 from Bogar Trout III (Tecumseh, Mich.) to make it a two-score difference.
Dallas won the next faceoff, which as a team had 14-of-24, but immediately turned it over. UD committed 26 compared to Franciscan's 23. Thomas and Araps iced the game with two more goals before Gibbons scored with two minutes from Hasson.
Gibbons totaled 11 shots and put 10 on cage. Hasson and Jameson each had three points with two goals and an assist. Jameson earned six ground balls and Hasson took 15 shots. Jake Frederick (Coppell, Texas) dished one-of-five team assists to go with matching a game-high seven ground balls. He was 10-for-16 in the faceoff circle, as UD won the first seven of the game and 10-of-12.
Owen Gibbons (St. Charles, Ill.) and Sam Dixon (Hurst, Texas) combined for 10 saves with Gibbons making four in the first half and Dixon making six in the second. Dixon was saddled with the loss, giving up eight goals in 30 minutes.
Eby also allowed eight goals in 56:02 minutes. Grant McKeown entered to play between the pipes the last 3:58 when the game was in hand and made three saves against four shots faced.
Araps paced Franciscan's offense with seven points thanks to team-highs in goals and assists with four and three. Thomas added a hat trick and a pair of assists. Miraglia tied the game-high for ground balls with seven.
Franciscan narrowly edged the Crusaders in ground balls by one (49-48), but it was a season-best for the Crusaders. Both teams failed to clear the ball 10 times, with the Barons having one more opportunity at 25-for-35.
UP NEXT
With spring break coming up, Dallas is off until its trip to Cleary University (March 19) and Adrian College (Mar. 22).