Army Downs Loyola, Advances To Championship Game

Friday, May 6

Boston, MA

7:00 PM

Army West Point

11-3

Loyola University Maryland

8-7

Loyola Maryland

Army West Point

Army Downs Loyola, Advances To Championship Game

May 06, 2022 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Game 15
SCORE	No. 2 Army Black Knights 14, No. 3 Loyola Greyhounds 13
RECORDS	Army (11-3) \| Loyola (8-7)
LEADING SCORERS	Army – Brendan Nichtern (9) \| Loyola – Evan James (5)
LOCATION	Nickerson Field
TOURNAMENT	2022 Patriot League Semifinals

BOSTON – Brendan Nichtern's game-high nine points lifted the No. 2 Black Knights to a 14-13 win over the third-seeded Loyola Maryland Greyhounds in the 2022 Patriot League Semifinals on Friday night. Army has advanced to play No. 1 Boston U. in the Patriot League Championship Game on Sunday at Noon.

GAME SUMMARY
Army used another fourth quarter run to pull away from the Greyhounds. In the first meeting on March 26, Army trailed 6-4 at halftime before outscoring Loyola 10-6 in the second half, including 7-4 in the fourth quarter. Tonight's encounter saw the Black Knights reeled off three straight goals in the final quarter en route to their first lead of the game and scored twice in the final minutes to edge the Greyhounds.

The Black Knights, however, faced a 4-0 deficit after the first quarter. Though, Army found itself back in the game with three straight goals in the second quarter. Reese Burek scored Army's first goal of the game on a man-up opportunity at 10:24 on the clock. 27 seconds later, Bobby Abshire cut the lead in half. Burek netted his second with an assist by Nichtern with seven minutes left in the half. The Greyhounds halted the run with two goals for a 6-3 lead heading into the final two minutes.

Then, Nichtern connected with Jacob Morin to score consecutive goals with 1:08 and 13 seconds left in the quarter as the Black Knights went into the break trailing 6-5. Army and Loyola alternated goals in the third quarter – with Nichtern, Danny Kielbasa, and Abshire providing the goals – until Nichtern netted his second which tied the game at 9-9 with six minutes remaining.

The fourth quarter began all squared. Loyola took a 10-9 lead 1:21 into the quarter, but the Black Knights hit back with three consecutive goals in five minutes with efforts by Abshire and Nichtern. Abshire tied the game at the 12:54 mark; Nichtern put Army ahead for the first time with 9:32 remaining, and Abshire added his fourth to give the Black Knights a 12-10 lead with 8:29 left. However, the Greyhounds scored two goals 20 seconds apart to tie the game at 12-12 with 4:15 on the clock.

Paul Johnson, then, picked a good time to score his first of the game from an assist by Gunner Philipp with three minutes left. Nichtern added what turned out to be the game-winning goal with 1:51 as the Greyhounds managed to score with six seconds remaining.

CADET CAPSULES

Brendan Nichtern finished with a game-high nine points after scoring four goals and dishing out five assists. Nichtern has 16 points (7 goals, 9 assists) in the two meetings against Loyola.
Bobby Abshire tied a career-high in goals with four on seven shots.
Reese Burek scored twice and had three ground balls.
Jacob Morin added two goals.
Will Coletti grabbed a team-high six ground balls.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

The Black Knights improved to 13-13 in 14 Patriot League Championship games. Army is 8-8 in the semifinal round.
Army will be making its seventh appearance in the Patriot League Championship Game.
Army is four goals away from tying the program record in goals for a season (219).

COACH'S/CADETS' CORNER

??Postgame comments from Brendan Nichtern (4g, 5a), Bobby Abshire (4g), and @ArmyLaxCoach after the 14-13 win over Loyola??#GoArmy | #FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/hagRykTECe
— Army Men's Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) May 7, 2022

UP NEXT

The Black Knights will face No. 1 seed and host Boston University in the 2022 Patriot League Championship Final on Sunday, May 8 at noon on CBS Sports Network.
Army defeated BU, 15-14, in the regular-season finale.

For complete coverage of Army West Point men's lacrosse follow the Black Knights on Twitter, Instagram, and at www.goarmywestpoint.com.