Bradford, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's lacrosse team hosted Alfred State on Saturday afternoon in a crucial AMCC matchup. The Panthers fell behind from the start and were never able to catch the visitors, ultimately losing the game 13-8.
The Panthers struggled to start their offense and found themselves trailing 2-0 after 5 minutes of action. Shortly after the second, freshman AJ Nardi got the Panthers on the board with a spectacular solo effort. Nardi won the faceoff and quickly moved into the offensive zone. He found space inside the defense and flipped a backhand shot into the corner of the goal. Alfred State restored their two-goal advantage with 5:30 remaining in the quarter, but Pitt-Bradford kept the deficit at one with a goal a few minutes later. Ben Byers intercepted a pass on a clearance attempt and quickly found Evan Hawley on the fast break. Awley sprinted to the left and fired a shot that beat the goalie low for a goal. After Alfred State scored again with just over a minute to go, The Panthers scored in the final seconds to close the period. Chris Beasley possessed the ball just inside the offensive half, and after a slip, recovered and sprinted past a Pioneer defender, he flipped a pass to David De La Teja, who spun through contact and then bounced a shot over the goalie to cut the lead back to 1.
The Visitors added to their tally after 2 minutes of play in the 4th, but the Panthers quickly responded with a goal of their own 90 seconds later. Nardi flipped a pass to Ben Byers on the left flank, who collected sprinted to his right and fired a low bouncing shot that beat the goalie to the corner. Neither team found the back of the net for the next 8 minutes of action until Alfred State used the man advantage to score their 6th of the game. Seconds later, Joshua Held powered through the check of a Pioneer defender and rifled a quick shot to the keeper's left for a goal. Pitt-Bradford wasn't able to keep the momentum as the game went to the break, allowing Alfred State to score with 47 seconds remaining, ending the half trailing 7-5.
In the 3rd quarter, Alfred State started quickly once more, scoring less than a minute after the restart. The Panthers had another immediate answer, cutting the lead back to 2 after just 14 seconds. Byers received a pass near the goal line and beat his defender with a spin to the left. Byers sprinted to the goal and released a diving shot under the keeper for his second of the game. The visitors grabbed the momentum back immediately, scoring less than a minute later. They extended their lead to 4 after a slashing penalty led to a man-up goal. The Pioneers maintained the majority of possession for the remainder of the quarter, but Evan Stack stayed resilient in the Panther goal, keeping them off the board for the next 7 minutes. The visitors finally broke through again with a goal at 5:11 in the period and took an 11-6 lead into the 4th.
Alfred State scored the first goal of a quarter for the 4th time, pushing their lead to 6 after 90 seconds. The Panthers finally got back on the board with 10 minutes left through a Billy Tigar solo effort. The sophomore attacker received a pass at the top of the zone and beat his defender with a spin move back to his left. Tigar found space and released a left-handed shot that beat the goalie high. The Pioneers restored their 6-goal lead with a tally with 7:22 remaining. Tigar tried to start a furious comeback with another goal with 2 minutes to play. He found space at the top of the zone again and fired a low shot into the far corner. Alfred State took possession from there and after one final save, ran out the clock to end the game.
Ben Byers and Billy Tigar both scored twice for the Panthers. Byers brought his league-leading goal total to 26 and also added an assist while tallying 10 shots. Tigar scored his 11th and 12th goals of the season on 8 shots. A.J. Nardi scored his 4th of the season and also had an assist. Joshua held scored his 10th goal of the season, while David De La Teja and Evan Hawley each tallied their 6th. Evan Stack made 17 saves in the Panther goal.
Pitt-Bradford drops to 4-6 on the season with a 1-1 mark in AMCC play. They will be back in action next Saturday with a non-conference tilt against Allegheny. The game is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start at Rathburn Family Field.
