Army Rallies Back, Defeats Bucknell 15-13

Saturday, March 30

Lewisburg, PA

1 PM

Army West Point

8-2, 4-1PL

Bucknell

2-8, 1-4PL

Army

Bucknell

Army Rallies Back, Defeats Bucknell 15-13

March 30, 2019 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

LEWISBURG, Pa. –With the game tied with two minutes remaining, the 18th-ranked Army West Point men's lacrosse team rallied back with two goals in the final 40 seconds of play to defeat Bucknell 15-13 on the road Saturday.

Army improves to 8-2 on the year and 4-1 in Patriot League action.

For the third time this season, freshman Brendan Nichtern scored the game-winning goal for the Black Knights.

Nichtern tallied the final two goals of the contest and registered a team-leading eight points on the day on four goals and four assists. Nate Jones and Miles Silva also had four goals in the game.

Jones eclipsed the 100-career goals mark in today's effort and now ranks 12th all-time with 101. He is also the 12th cadet in the 102 seasons of Army men's lacrosse to accomplish this feat.

Johnny Surdick led the way defensively with five caused turnovers and five ground balls.

HOW IT HAPPENED

For the first time this season, Army did not score the first goal of the game.
Bucknell and Army went back-and-forth for a majority of the first and second quarters.
The Bison took a 1-0 lead, but Army scored less than a minute later to tie things at 1-1.
Connor DeWitt got things started for the Cadets on a transition goal. James Pryor carried the ball up the field and connected with DeWitt for the score.
Bucknell went on to score a man-up goal, but Matt Manown had a successful isolation play up top and scored high on Christian Klipstein.
Army found some momentum as Nichtern assisted one of Silva's goals with 8:14 on the clock, but Bucknell bounced back with three of its own to reclaim the lead, 5-3 at the start of the second.
At the 12:54 mark of the quarter, Surdick caused a turnover in the defensive zone and carried the ball up the field. He passed it off to Nichtern who fed it to Jones for the score.
The Bison netted the second man-up goal of the contest four minutes later however to maintain a 6-4 lead over the Cadets.
A crease roll by Nicthern cut the opponent's lead to one.
Bucknell and Army traded goals to close out the first half with a 7-6 advantage in favor of the Bison.
Silva was credited with the goal after a caused turnover by Jones.
The third quarter was all about the Black Knights as they outscored the Bison 6-2.
Silva scored to open the run for Army with 14:07 on the clock.
Tom Rigney assisted Jones on a transition goal 1:14 minutes later.
Bucknell tallied back-to-back scores, but four in a row by Army kept things tilted in favor of the Cadets.
Jones scored two consecutive in the run and was followed by Nichtern and Silva.
The fourth quarter was a nail biter.
Nicholas Garofano scored 35 seconds in, but the Bison charged back to tie things up at 13-13.
With 40 seconds to go, Nichtern broke free of a defender while driving towards goal down the right side to score high on Klipstein.
Army sealed the victory with an insurance goal with 16 seconds on the clock. Sean O'Brien kept the ball hot and Nichtern capitalized on an open net by Bucknell.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Jones eclipsed the 100-career goals mark in today's effort and now ranks 12th all-time with 101.
He is also the 12th cadet in the 102 seasons of Army men's lacrosse to accomplish this feat.
Jones finished the game with a season-high four goals.
Nichtern netted his third game-winning goal of the season in the game.
The freshman tied his career-high in goals (4), assists (4) and points (8).
Silva also chipped in four goals on the day.
Garofano and Manown both had a goal and an assist.
DeWitt finished the game with one tally, while O'Brien, Rigney and Pryor were credited with an assist apiece.
Marcus Hudgins and Jones garnered four ground balls in the game.
They both tied career-highs in the category.
Hudgins also forced two turnovers.
AJ Barretto made 10 saves in today's game and is now five shy from 500 in his career.
The senior ranks seventh all-time in Army history for saves with 495.
Bucknell led in shots today (40-38) as well as ground balls (40-37) and faceoffs (20-11).