Bradford, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's lacrosse team hosted the Allegheny Gators in their penultimate regular-season game on Saturday. The visitors jumped out to an early lead and overwhelmed the Panthers, who went on to fall 19-4.
The Gators took control of the game from the opening whistle, scoring three times in the opening 90 seconds. They added a fourth with 12:37 to go before the Panthers were able to get on the board. At the 9:30 mark, Billy Tigar found Joshua Held on the right flank off the offensive zone. Held raced toward the goal and released a low shot that slipped through the goalie's leg and rolled over the goal line. The goal was his 11th of the year. Allegheny answered with their 5th of the game 4 minutes later and finished the first quarter with a 5-1 lead.
In the 2nd, Allegheny started quickly once more, scoring after 38 seconds. Evan Stack made multiple saves to keep the Gators from increasing their lead, but the visitors scored two more times before the Panthers found the net. Tigar slipped past a defender at midfield and sprinted towards the goal. He drew two defenders and passed to Ben Byers on the left flank. Byers beat the defense to the crease and dropped a shot over the keeper for a goal. Allegheny scored twice in the final two minutes, sending the game to the break with Pitt-Bradford trailing 10-2.
Pitt-Bradford struggled to find its footing in the third quarter. They mustered two early shots on goal, but saw both efforts saved. The Gators scored 5 more times before the Panthers found enough space for another shot. Reid Kristufek and Byers each put a shot on goal, but could not beat the Allegheny keeper. The visitors scored one more goal with 90 seconds left in the quarter to go ahead 16-2.
After Allegheny scored twice to start the 4th, the Panthers fought back and scored two goals in an 84-second stretch. Byers scored the first, after receiving a pass at the top of the zone. He sprinted to his right and fired a jumping shot past the goalie into the left side of the goal for his second of the contest, and 28th of the season. After a missed shot on the other end, Alex Arno picked up a ground ball and found Julian Florez, who successfully cleared the ball into the offensive end. Byers received the ball near the top of the zone and flipped a pass to Tigar on the left flank. Tigar ripped a shot past the goalie into the top left corner for his 13th of the season. The visitors added two more in the final minutes, finishing the game with a 19-4 victory.
Ben Byers scored 2 goals in the loss and assisted on another. Billy Tigar had a goal and two helpers. Joshua Held scored the other goal for the Panthers. Evan Stack made 23 saves in the game.
The loss drops Pitt-Bradford to 4-7 on the season. They will bring the regular season to a close on Wednesday, when they host LaRoche. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start.
