Men’s Lacrosse: BU Scores Thrilling Overtime Goal in Victory Over Army

By: Hannah Connors

The rematch of the year.

Last season, the Terriers upset Army twice, keeping them out of the NCAA tournament. With the narrative set the same again, Boston University Men’s Lacrosse (7-1, 3-1 PL)  broke the Army Black Knights (7-1, 3-1 PL) undefeated season in a thrilling 10-9 overtime victory.

“I am proud of our guys,” coach Ryan Polley said. “We played a complete game.” 

The story for the first quarter was goaltenders. Terrier Goalie, Will Barnes, who was recently named Patriot League Goaltender of the Week and Black Knight Goalie, Sean Byrne kept the first frame within 3 goals. 

Army’s ground ball efforts provided a slight edge. With the score tied at 1-1 late in the first quarter, defenseman Keagan Treacy picked up a ground ball for the Black Knights, leading to a successful clear and a quick transition goal, putting Army ahead 2-1.

The Black Knights opened up the second quarter hot. Just 20 seconds in, a feed from defensive midfielder Christian Fournier found fogo Robert Simone with plenty of room to sneak a goal past Barnes. This marked the only two-goal lead of the entire game. 

The Terriers were quick to respond. Freshman midfielder Andrew Pape netted an unassisted goal just a minute after Army’s to cut the lead to one.

BU quickly capitalized again. As the Army defense converged on James Lapina in front of the net, they left freshman attacker Timothee Shannehan wide open to score BU’s third goal of the game. 

“The rest of the game there wasn’t a two-goal lead,” Polley said. “It was a high-level lacrosse game.”

Back-and-forth action between both teams put the score at 6-5, with the Terriers trailing by one at the end of the second. 

A penalty on Army gave BU a man-up advantage just 15 seconds into the second half. As the Black Knights successfully killed off the minute-long penalty, Jimmy O’Connell found Pape at the 20-yard line, who scored to tie the game for BU.

Following this goal, Army made an offensive push, maintaining nearly five minutes of zone time. Despite Barnes making four crucial saves to keep BU in the game, a moment of weak defense from the Terriers allowed Army to capitalize on a scoring opportunity.

But as the Terriers had done all game, they answered quickly. O’Connell found Shannehan tying the game for BU.

The first half of the last period was a stalemate for both teams. 

Pape put a stop to this momentum. After two missed shot attempts from the Terriers, Pape scored his fourth goal, giving BU an 8-7 lead.

“Andrew played with a ton of confidence,” said Polley. “When he got the opportunity to shoot the ball…he made some really big shots. I just thought he had a really complete game.”

With a little over five minutes left, Army intensified their defensive efforts, pressuring the Terriers until only 15 seconds remained on the shot clock. As BU’s passing became sloppy, defenseman Christian Mazur seized the opportunity, stripping James Corcoran of the ball and taking it all the way to the net to tie the game.

Frustrated by the Terriers’ late fumble, Tyler Fox took possession at the goal line, dodged his defender, and scored in the bottom corner of the net, an area where goaltender Brynes struggled to make saves the whole game. 

With thirty seconds left, a scramble for a ground ball left Barnes out of position. Attacker Brayden Fountain recovered the ball, and with BU’s defense scattered around the crease, Fountain snuck in and tied the game, sending it to overtime.

The Terriers, however, fueled with the advantage of having taken Army down twice last season, knew they could do it again.

An untimely double team by Army’s defense on Pape left Fox and attacker Jimmy Kohr open. Pape passed to Fox, who then found Kohr. Kohr capitalized, securing a 10-9 victory for the Terriers.

“It was the understanding of what Army was going to do, and being able to be skillful enough to make that tight window pass…was really impressive,” Polley said. “You know, Andrew [Pape] can not only run down the alley and shoot it, and step down and shoot, but he was able to, you know, dissect the defense and make such a critical play at a big moment.”

The Terriers are set to face the Harvard Crimson next Tuesday, Mar. 27th, at 7 p.m. in Cambridge for the Charles River Rivalry game. Streaming will be available on ESPN+