For the second straight season, the Hawkeyes and Royals will meet in the National Collegiate Box Series (NCBS) National Championship in Utica, NY. Saturdays’ Noon ET contest will be live streamed on the National Lacrosse League (NLL) YouTube channel.
The Hawkeyes were the first team to punch their ticket to the Finals, defeating the Ohio Bulls 18-6 at the Utica University Nexus Center. With the win, the Rochester-based team advances to its second-straight Championship Game.
The Hawkeyes, who finished atop their division with a 3-0 record, notched wins over the Dragons, Red Hawks, and Gaels to reach the semifinals.
“When we started (our season) June 1, this is what we were looking for,” said Hawkeyes captain Conner Fingar. “We knew when we won the Mearns Cup, we were headed to the NCBS National Championship. We are happy for now. But we will get dialed in and watch some film.”
After a closely fought first quarter, the Hawkeyes blew open the 5-4 game by netting five straight goals in the second quarter to pull in front 10-4. The run came immediately after goalie John Jacobs made back-to-back saves.
The Hawkeyes, behind Jacobs, limited the Bulls to one goal at the end of the second and one early in the fourth. During that time, the Bulls were held scoreless for over 20 minutes. The defense was not only inspired by the play of Jacobs but also by the halftime speech from Hawkeyes head coach Dan Coates.
“The halftime pep talk got us going,” said forward Zachary Terry. “We all talked to each other and communicated. We were just like, ‘Let’s play together. That’s all we have to do.'”
The Hawkeyes put the game away by outscoring the Bulls 8-1 in the second half. Terry posted four of his team-leading seven goals in the final 24 minutes. Rochester used a balanced offensive attack as nine different players scored. Colt Green, Thomas Gravino, and Titus Chapman all chipped in a pair of goals. Patrick Mitchell, Colin Sharkey, Matthew Blythe, Ian Kane, and Pax Marshall all had single tallies.
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“We were all clicking on offense and listening to what the coaches were saying,” said Terry about sharing the ball on offense.
The Bulls, who advanced to the semifinals after beating the Buffaloes Thursday, attacked the Hawkeyes to open the game and trailed only 5-4 after the opening quarter. Jackson Carawan scored one of his two goals in the opening frame, while Max Schillig netted back-to-back tallies to give Ohio a 4-3 advantage at 6:36 of the first.
The first quarter was indicative of the hard-working mentality of the Ohio Collegiate Box Lacrosse League (OCBLL) team, which earned them a spot in the semifinals.
“That really meant everything to me,” said Schillig. “We came together with a ragtag group of guys, and we gritted out some pretty big wins against some really good teams.”
The Hawkeyes will now face the three-time defending NCBS champion Royals. The powerhouse from the California Collegiate Box Lacrosse League (CACBLL) knocked off the Potomac Gaels 8-7 in a thriller.
“That’s the matchup everybody wants to see,” said Royals head coach Cam Holding. “No doubt it’s going to be an absolute battle.”
To guarantee the rematch with the Hawkeyes, the Royals fought off a furious second-half comeback by the Gaels 8-7 to advance to their fourth straight Finals in four seasons. Luke Sillstrop’s crease-dive goal with 2:05 to play proved to be the game winner. His brother JJ assisted on the tally. Luke (two goals) and JJ (1+4) combined for seven points to lead the Royals.
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“It’s the best feeling in the world. There’s nothing better than that,” said Luke Sillstrop about scoring the game-winning goal. “These guys work so hard and put in so much work in the summer. This is my first year, but some guys have been here three or four years and put all their effort into this.”
The game went according to plan early for the Royals, as they held the Gaels scoreless for over 21 minutes. They only allowed a single tally from Rioux Johnson on the power play at 9:28 of the second.
Meanwhile, the Royals kept attacking the cage and went up 1-0 in the first quarter on a power play marker by Jacob Mendez. In the second, the Royals started rolling as they scored four consecutive goals to take a 5-0 lead. Isaac Wills and Tayden Bultman both converted on crease dives. The Sillstrop brothers connected for the fourth goal as JJ dished to Luke for the goal. Teagan Bultman followed with a goal five seconds later after a faceoff win.
The San Diego-based team then extended the lead to 6-1 to open the third, but that’s when things started to get interesting. The Gaels began to inch closer, using a power play goal by Nicholas Dupuis to make it 6-2 after three. That set the stage for a wild fourth quarter.
Luke Rhoa scored 22 seconds into the final quarter to get things going. After a Royals’ goal at 2:56, the Gaels mounted their comeback. Dupuis scored his second of the game at 3:26, and just nine seconds later, Mic Kelly scored, making it 7-5 Royals. Johnson tapped in a power play marker to get the Gaels within one, and Rhoa’s second of the contest made it 7-7 with just under five minutes to play. The comeback was no fluke, according to Dupuis.
“A lot of the guys in the locker room have experience playing in big-time games,” said the Alexandria, Va., native. “We weren’t afraid of going out there and competing with everything we had. We were a bunch of hungry dogs, and I hoped everyone saw that.”
The Royals, however, ended the four-goal Gaels’ run with a goal by Luke Sillstrop.
The Gaels had one last chance to force overtime, but goalie Bryce Wismer slid to his right to smother an outside shot to preserve the win.
“I have said this before: in our four years of existence, we have had a ton of games like that,” said Holding. “We’ve seen that adversity before. The boys stood up, and I was happy to see that.”
The Gaels reached the semifinals for the first time in their league’s history. The underdog team from the Mid Atlantic Collegiate Box Lacrosse League (MACBLL) showed its grit throughout the tournament. The Gaels finished second in the toughest division by defeating the Dragons (San Jose) and the Red Hawks (Denver). They locked up a playoff berth by beating the Red Hawks in their final pool-play game.
