April 9, 2008 - BEARS WIN HEART-STOPPER VS. JEROME

The 15th ranked Upper Arlington Golden Bears were pushed to the brink before surviving a 12-11 thriller over Dublin Jerome Wednesday night at Marv Moorehead Stadium.

"Very entertaining on the spectator side," UA Head Coach Ted Wolford said. "From a technical side, there were way
too many unforced errors on our behalf."

The Bears led 8-3 at the break but the Celtics rode the scoring of Army-bound senior Alex VanKrevel and sophomore Eric Ruhl to within a foot of tying the game in the final seconds. Jerome's tying goal at :06 of the fourth quarter was waved off for a crease violation. VanKrevel scored six goals. Ruhl had three goals and two assists. Jerome played without injured midfield star Marshall Burkhart.

The Bears are now 3-0 and were led by Adam Donahue with three goals. Cal Case, Alex Drake and Kyle Angelos each scored two goals.

Drake and Donahue both scored from point-blank range just 30 seconds apart to give the Bears a 10-7 lead and a little breathing room midway of the third quarter. The pair did the same 1:15 apart early in the fourth quarter. Donahue's third goal at 10:27 of the fourth quarter was the Bears final goal and gave UA a 12-8 lead before Jerome scored the final three goals of the game.

"When you get pushed in a game situation it only makes you stronger for down the road," Wolford said. "That's what we're looking for with young guys who don't know what to expect or with guys who kind of assume it's going to be easy. They have to know that every time out that things can be different. You have to be focused. You don't take things for granted and work hard every shift you have."

The game was a showcase for a boat-load of senior talent on both sidelines. Jerome has four players signed to Div. I schools including Burkhart and defenseman Tyler Mordecai to Johns Hopkins, the defending national champion. The Bears have 14 players signed to play college lacrosse at the Div. I or III levels. "No doubt about it there was a whole slew of talent," added Wolford. "It was a shame Marshall Burkhart was not able to play because of injury because I think he is a very good midfielder."

UA travels to Olentangy Saturday night but not before the Bears log extended time in the film room. "We'll watch it again on film, do a little bit more teaching and we'll be able to correct some of those things so they don't happen down the road.