The men’s lacrosse team had never won a game in 41 matchups against Army West Point since 1926 — that is, until last Friday. The Leopards finally snapped the streak with a 10-9 come-from-behind upset over the No. 9 Black Knights, overcoming a three-goal halftime deficit to prevail at home.
“It was unreal,” junior midfielder Nick Faccone said. “One of the coolest games we’ve ever played in.”
Army (1-1 Patriot League, 6-1 overall) burst out of the gate with two goals in the first four minutes before sophomore midfielder Nick Blalock put the Leopards (1-0 Patriot League, 5-2 overall) on the board with a man-up strike. Sophomore attackers Ben DiBattista and Josh Heaney rifled off scores to take the lead across the next six minutes, but the Black Knights slotted a pair of their own goals to steal back the scoreboard 4-3 to end the first quarter.
The Black Knights continued to pile on in the second, tacking on another two goals to extend their run to 4-0. DiBattista connected with five and a half to play on a falling shot, but Army added another score before the halftime buzzer to snag a 7-4 lead at the break.
Faccone said the message in the locker room was to “just keep going.”
“We knew we had tough bounces,” he said. “Eventually, it was gonna bounce our way; it’s a game of momentum.”
Eight scoreless minutes kicked off the third quarter before the Leopard offense caught their spark. Blalock fired from underneath, with sophomore midfielder Joe Duggan following up 35 seconds later to pull the score within one. The Maroon and White surrendered its only man-down goal out of three situations, but held tight defensively in the remaining four minutes, heading into the final quarter down 8-6.
The Leopards outscored 4-1 in the last 15 minutes of play, beginning just 30 seconds in with DiBattista’s third goal of the day off an assist from junior midfielder Jack Massotto.
“My teammates did all the hard work with dodging and drawing doubles,” said DiBattista, who managed his fifth hat trick in seven games. “For me, that’s the easy part — just putting it in the back of the net.”
Another seven minutes elapsed between scores, but freshman midfielder Cooper Pasko sliced through the Black Knight defense himself and shot a laser from the crease that tied the game at eight apiece.
With just over four minutes left to play, Duggan worked his way around the back of the net towards the crease to hit the go-ahead goal. To put an exclamation point on the comeback, Faccone took the ensuing faceoff all the way to the net and converted to make it a 10-8 game.
“I was able to take it down Main Street and punch one in,” Faccone said.
Army rattled in an answer with two minutes left, and proceeded to threaten down the wire. Senior goalie Joe Doherty continued to hold down the fort, fending off two shots in the final 20 seconds to hand the Black Knights their first loss of both the season and against the Maroon and White.
“It’s an insane experience,” DiBattista said. “Really good win.”
Doherty earned Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week honors for his 19-save performance, the fifth of his career.
“He’s the heartbeat of our team,” Faccone said about Doherty. “He’s not the loudest guy, but his presence speaks more than any words can.”
The Leopards will look to ride the wave on the road against Holy Cross (1-1 Patriot League, 4-3 overall) on Saturday.