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Sophomore defenseman Chris Fennell paced the Mids with four caused turnovers and scored a spectacular man-down goal.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- A doorstop goal by junior attackman Sean Doyle with 51 seconds remaining in the game led the Bucknell men's lacrosse team (2-1, 1-0 PL) to an 8-7 victory over Navy (1-2, 0-1 PL) Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in what was the Patriot League opener for both programs.

Doyle's game-winner was scored following a wild fourth quarter that saw momentum see saw between the two teams.

Navy opened the final stanza with a 5-3 advantage, but Bucknell began pecking its way back into the game when freshman attackman Will Sands curled around the right side of the cage and found fellow rookie Connor O'Hara stationed on the crease for his lone goal of the game. Just over a minute later, the Bison converted an extra-man opportunity after the Mids were called for a slash and knotted the game at 5-5.

Navy sophomore Brady Dove (Stevensville, Md.), who came into the contest leading the nation in faceoff winning percentage, won the ensuing faceoff and headed straight for the goal where he poked in his first score of the year. The go-ahead goal, however, would be short lived as Bucknell head coach Frank Fedorjaka asked for a stick check. The first two checks saw the ball fall straight out of Dove's stick, but the third stuck and Navy was on the receiving end of a three-minute, unreleasable penalty and the goal was taken off the scoreboard.

Bucknell made the Mids pay dearly, scoring a pair of extra-man goals by senior middie Ryan Joseph and Doyle, to take a 7-5 lead with 6:13 to go in the contest.

"Certainly the penalty shifted the momentum," said fourth-year Navy head coach Rick Sowell. "They had it when they tied it up, then we grabbed it when Brady won the faceoff and scored and then it went back their way. Sticks get mashed in the play of game and they said the throat was too narrow on Brady's stick"

The Mids killed off the penalty and with under five minutes to play began to chip away at Bucknell's two-goal advantage. Junior midfielder Kevin Wendel (East Islip, N.Y.) played a huge role in Navy's comeback, first backing down his defender on the left side of the cage before spinning and punching in his second goal of the day to trim the Bison lead to one with 4:10 remaining. Less than a minute later, Wendel found junior attackman T.J. Hanzsche (Berwyn, Pa.) for the game-tying goal.

Both teams would trade possessions over the next two-plus minutes before Joseph found Doyle on the crease for the game-winner.

"It was a good catch-and-shoot play, great placement," said Sowell. "It was right there on the doorstep and there was not much John (Connors) could do."

It's the eighth time in the 15-game history the game has been decided by one goal, five of which have gone in Bucknell's favor.

"I told the team whether you lose 8-1 or 8-7, losing is no fun. I feel like I learned a lot about my team today. I think most teams would have packed it in after the three-minute penalty, but not this team. I'm excited about the future."

The Mids were led by Hanzsche and Wendel who each scored a pair of goals, while Keena added two assists.

Defensively, the Mids were ferocious on the ball, causing 10 of Bucknell's 13 turnovers with sophomore Chris Fennell (Milford, N.J.) leading the way with four takeaways. In doing so, Fennell moved into a tie for eighth on the Mids' all-time caused turnovers list with 19 over the last two seasons. Fennell also brought Navy fans to their feet at the end of the third quarter when Bucknell had its pass intercepted by Navy keeper John Connors (Bellmore, N.Y.) on an extra-man opportunity and Connors threw the outlet to Fennell who ran nearly the length of the field to target a man-down goal and give the Mids a 5-3 lead.

While it was Fennell's first collegiate goal, it marked the third straight year Navy has scored a man down goal and the 22nd consecutive season a close defenseman or a long stick midfielder has either scored a goal or dealt out an assist.

Bucknell was led by Joseph who produced five points on a career-best four goals and one assist, while Doyle scored two goals and Sands dealt out three assists.

The Mids will go on the road for the first time this year when they travel north to face Holy Cross on Saturday at 3:00 pm. There will be no video, however Joe Miller will call the action on 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV.

### Go Navy ###