Charles In Charge of Beltway
BALTIMORE, Md. - Junior captain Jay Charles scored the game-winning goal in the third overtime period, sending visiting Swarthmore to an 8-7 season-opening victory at Goucher College on a chilly Saturday afternoon.
It was only the second triple-overtime game for the Garnet in the last ten years. Ironically, that game was also at Goucher; a 10-9 win for Swarthmore on February 26, 2000. That win was also the last time a Garnet men's lacrosse team defeated the Gophers on their home turf.
The Gophers (1-3) jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first period. Garnet midfielder Ivano Ventresca got Swarthmore on the board in the closing minute of the period, finishing off a pass from Alex Hahn '09 at 0:58.
Goucher tallied another score at the beginning of the second period, converting an extra man opportunity into an unassisted goal by Dan Flamholz at 14:04. Swarthmore answered with two even-strength goals to knot the score at 3-3. Charles scored his first goal at 8:27, taking a pass from Todd Friedman '09, rocketing the ball past Gophers' goalie Austin Hayes. Senior Matt Perez was wide-open on the left post and flicked home a quick pass from Stelios Wilson at 2:01. The score remained tied at halftime.
The Garnet grabbed their first lead of the afternoon just two minutes into the third period. Goucher accumulated three penalties and Swarthmore played to a two-man advantage. Perez used the extra space to his benfit , putting home his second goal of the game at 13:04 to give the visitors a 4-3 lead.
The flurry of goals continued during the third period, the Gophers' Brent Shea scored an extra man goal at 8:09. Swarthmore followed with a pair of scores twenty-two seconds apart to increase the lead to 6-4; Friedman scored his first career goal at 4:27 and Wilson knotched his first collegiate goal at 4:05.
Goucher put up two goals at the beginning of the fourth period to even the score at 6-6. Both teams spent the waning minutes calling timeouts, hoping to set up the play that could win the game.
Swarthmore took its final time-out with 22 seconds on the clock, searching for the knock-out punch. Charles resumed play with the ball on the right sideline and came barrelling of a screen. The junior took three steps and snapped a left-handed shot into the back of the net, setting off a wild celebration with 15 seconds left.
Goucher would not let Swarthmore go home easily; the Gophers' Jerod Richardson won the final faceoff (Richardson dominated in the circle, winning 16 of 20 faceoffs on the afternoon) and hit teammate Dave Duff on the left flank. Duff took a step to his right and as a Garnet defender sought to plant him on the turf, got off a shot. The ball was deflected on its way to the net and snuck over the shoulder of Garnet goalie Frank Mazzucco '08 with six seconds remaining, sending the contest into extra time.
The two teams matched wits through ten minutes of overtime before Charles set everyone home with his trademark left-handed over-the-top sniper into the top corner.
Charles tallied the first hat trick of his career, scoring a team-high three goals to go along with an assist. Perez finished with two goals while Friedman and Wilson added a goal and an assist apiece.
For the Garnet (1-0), it was the sixth time in the last seven seasons they have won the season opener.
Swarthmore heads to Orlando, Fl. on Monday morning to prepare for its next contest, a 7:00 p.m. game with Kenyon College on Saturday, March 11.