Lacrosse: Army holds off Navy’s comeback, wins in OT

With about two minutes and 40 seconds remaining in overtime, Matt Manown was juking, spinning and bulldozing his way into the crease.

Once he got there, the junior midfielder for the Army Black Knights men’s lacrosse team was able to slice a shot past Navy’s keeper for a walk-off win. Manown’s shot was enough, as Army won its 100th meeting with Navy by a final score of 9-8 at Michie Stadium in West Point.

The Black Knights (9-3; 5-2 Patriot) jumped out to an early 4-3 lead, and then its defense held strong in the second quarter, holding the Midshipmen (5-6; 3-4 Patriot) scoreless.

Coming into this game, Army had the fourth best defense in the nation, holding opponents to an average of 8.91 goals per-game.

But Navy bounced back in the second half and erased a three-goal deficit. The Mids outscored the Black Knights 5-2 in the second half to push the game to OT. That’s when Army called on Manown for some late-game heroics. It was the 15th goal of the season for the junior from Saunderstown, R.I.

The star of the game for Army was freshman attack Brendan Nichtern, who accounted for five points with a pair of goals and a trio of assists.

Navy turned the ball over 22 times and went 0-for-4 in extra man situations, but was able to stay in the game due to the stellar play of goalkeeper Ryan Kern. The junior from Middletown, Delaware stopped 18 Army shots on the day. Coming into the game, Kern needed just nine saves to crack Navy’s top 10 all-time list.

Despite the loss, Navy still holds a 61-36-3 all-time record against Army in men’s lacrosse.

Army hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since 2010, but seems to be on the right track to cracking the 2019 field after this victory. The Black Knights have also notched impressive wins over UMass and Rutgers. Next up will be their toughest test yet, as they host No. 2 Loyola on April 20.