Men's lacrosse victorious over Franciscan in inaugural Blue Bridge Game, 15-13

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

BETHANY, W.Va. (March 21) - The Bison held off a late charge to earn a 15-13 win over Franciscan in the first-ever Blue Bridge Rivalry Game at Bison Stadium Wednesday night.

THE MATCHUP

• Final: Bethany 15, Franciscan 13 (Box Score)
• Records: Bethany 2-4 | Franciscan 2-4
• Location: Bison Stadium | Bethany, West Virginia

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Bison got off to a fast start when junior Will Gatling (Baltimore, Md./Northwestern) scored in the first 15 seconds to give Bethany the lead. Freshman Jacob Ranttila (Bennington, Vt./Mount Anthony Union) added another goal with 12:55 left in the first quarter to put the Bison up 2-0.
• Franciscan rallied with two goals in the ninth-minute of the opening period to tie the game, but three-straight Bison goals helped the home team reclaim a 5-2 lead with 4:28 to play in the first quarter.
• Bethany entered the second quarter with a 5-3 advantage, before scoring three-unanswered, including two from senior Bryan Uth (Hedgesville, W.Va./Hedgesville), to open the quarter and build an 8-3 lead. Uth would notch another goal later in the period, but Franciscan managed to narrow the gap to 9-6 heading into halftime.
• The Green & White scored three-straight goals to start the second half and establish its biggest-lead of the night at 12-6 with 9:39 left in the third quarter.
• Franciscan began to inch closer with a 6-to-1 run on goals to narrow the gap to one point at 13-12 with 7:28 remaining in the fourth quarter.
• A one-minute slashing penalty on the Barons with 4:17 left to play gave the Bison a man-up opportunity. Bethany took advantage when freshman Nicholas Melita (Fredericksburg, Va./Massaponax) took a pass from Gatling and found the back of the net to provide the team with a huge insurance marker with 3:39 on the clock.
• Freshman Tristan Shaffer (Fredericksburg, Va./Massaponax) added another goal on an oppertunistic bounce less than a minute later to help Bethany seal the victory in the Blue Bridge Game.  

MATCH NOTES

• Uth led the Bison with five goals on nine shots and added a game-high 18 ground balls to his final line. He was exceptional in the faceoff department, winning 17-of-21 draws.
• Gatling paced Uth with four goals and added two assists, while Melita finished with two goals in the win. 
• Senior goalkeeper Sean Rhodes (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) made 15 saves on 28 shots to earn the win.
• Bethany as a team was 24-of-31 on faceoffs.

UP NEXT

• Bethany will jump back into Ohio River Lacrosse Conference (ORLC) play on Saturday, March 24 when they travel to face Washington & Jefferson for a match at 1 p.m.
• Live statistical updates of the match will be available here.

ABOUT THE BLUE BRIDGE RIVALRY GAME

• The rivalry game is named after the blue Market Street Bridge that connects Brooke County, West Virginia and Steubenville, Ohio.
• This is the last season that the full-time Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) members will compete in the ORLC, before establishing the sport under the PAC banner in 2019.
• Franciscan will join the PAC as an affiliate-member in both men's and women's lacrosse starting next season.