Providence, R.I. – Junior Thomas Flibotte scored at the 2:15 mark of overtime to lead #19 Bucknell to a 10-9 win over #12 Brown, sending the Bears to their first loss of the season.
Bears’ junior attackman Kylor Bellistri (Potopmac, MD) had a chance to win the game on Brown’s first possession in overtime, but his point-blank shot was stopped by Bucknell senior goalie Sam Grinberg.
Brown falls to 5-1 on the season, while Bucknell extends its record to 6-2 overall.
The high- scoring Bears, who lead the nation in scoring with over 17 goals per game, held a 9-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter on third quarter goals by junior Henry Blynn (Villanova, PA) and Bellistri.
Bucknell’s deliberate offensive pace, coupled with seven fourth quarter Brown turnovers, kept the game within reach of the Bison. Sean Doyle scored early in the quarter, breaking a 28 minute Bison scoring drought, and Ryan Joseph scored the game-tying goal with 7:25 remaining to send the game into overtime at 9-9.
Bellistri registered three goals for the Bears, while Blynn and sophomore Dylan Molloy (Setauket, NY) netted two goals each. Molloy added three assists to finish with five points.
Bears’ junior Will Gural (Haverford, PA) won the battle of the face-off x, capturing 15-of-23 face-offs. Junior goalie Jack Kelley (West Islip, NY) made five fourth quarter saves to finish with 11 saves.
Four Bucknell players scored two goals each, Alex Ryan, Ryan Joseph, Sean Doyle and Kyle Shanahan.
The story of the game was the play of Grinberg, who kept Bucknell in the game with eight of his 12 saves in the opening half.
Coming off an emotional win over Harvard on Saturday, the Bears opened up a 5-1 lead with 5:04 left in the first quarter on a goal by junior Brendan Caputo (Westbury, NY), two by Molloy and one by Bellistri.
Bucknell went on a 6-0 run to pull ahead, 7-5, on a goal by Ryan with 10:21 left in the second quarter. Along the way, the Bison held Brown scoreless for over 13 minutes.
Blynn and Bellistri sparked a late Bears’ first half rally that tied the game at intermission, 7-7.
Brown is back in action again on Saturday, March 21, welcoming Manhattan to Stevenson Field on starting at 1pm.
