High Point 13, Sacred Heart 5
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men's lacrosse team used a balanced offensive attack and a great defensive outing from senior Pat Farrell to earn a 13-5 triumph over Sacred Heart on Saturday in Vert Stadium.
The Panthers (2-3) jumped out to a 6-0 lead through the first 18 minutes of play with six different players tallying goals. After that run, the HPU defense, led by Farrell and senior Austin Geisler, never let the Pioneers (0-1) get any closer than four goals.
Farrell set a school record with eight caused turnovers and collected two ground balls. The eight caused turnovers doubled the previous program record of four.
Meanwhile, Geisler made 10 saves and allowed five goals, the lowest allowed by the Purple & White in the program's three-year history. He also picked up six ground balls.
Offensively, the Panthers had 13 different players register a point. Junior Matt Thistle led the way with four points (2g, 2a). Junior Dan Lomas and freshman Connor Robinson were right behind Thistle as both players posted two goals and one assist.
Redshirt-juniors Brad James (2a) and Richard Byrd (1g, 1a) each tallied two points. The goal was the first of Byrd's career.
Senior Hunter Edens, junior Jamie Piluso, and freshman Jason Ashwood each posted their first goals of the year while junior Tyler Cook and sophomores Cole Carns and Michael LeClair scored as well.
Freshmen Peyton Garrett and Michael Lanahan each registered their first career points with assists.
Piluso went 13-of-20 (65 percent) in the face-off circle winning 8-of-10 in the second half. He also led the squad with eight ground balls. The team had 17 different players credited with at least one ground ball.
HPU earned a +14 (39-25) margin in ground balls and caused 18 of the Pioneers' 27 turnovers. The Purple & White got off 44 shots with 28 of them on goal (64 percent). On the other hand, Sacred Heart got off 22 shots with 15 on goal (68 percent).
The Panthers didn't score in the first 3:30, but then unleashed their offense in a big way. Robinson scored first off an assist by Thistle to make it 1-0 with 11:30 on the clock. Five seconds later it was 2-0 as Piluso took the face-off and bolted in for a score (11:25).
The onslaught didn't stop there. Thistle made it 3-0 with a goal at the 11:05 mark as HPU tallied three goals in 25 seconds.
Lomas, then, stretched the lead to four and extended the nation's third longest goal-scoring streak to 22 games (4-0, 4:14). Cook added a man-up goal with 23 seconds left in the opening quarter to make it 5-0.
The lead swelled to six as Byrd got out in transition and found the back of the net (6-0, 12:48). The Pioneers fought back and got consecutive goals from Brian Masi and Bryce Jurk to cut the lead to four at 6-2 as the game reached the half.
Much like the first half, the Purple & White opened the second half on a run. Robinson, again, kicked off the second half scoring with an unassisted goal to make it 7-2 with 13:34 left in the third frame. Thistle, then, found a cutting Lomas who found the twine to give HPU an 8-2 lead (12:30).
The Panthers' advantage ballooned to 10-2 as James assisted on goals by Carns (7:25) and Thistle (4:58). Sacred Heart pulled back within six at 10-4 as Thomas Diplacido (:54, third quarter) and Alex Dodge (13:58, fourth quarter) earned their first goals of the year.
However, HPU responded as Byrd found Ashwood in transition to make it 11-4 with 12:46 to play. Just 24 seconds later Garrett assisted on LeClair's goal to put the Panthers up by eight again (12-4, 12:22).
Sacred Heart got Jurk's second goal of the contest to make it 12-5 (7:47) before Edens closed out the scoring off an assist from Lanahan to make it 13-5 (:23).
The Purple & White will be back at home in Vert Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 28 to host Robert Morris at 11 a.m. with the women's lacrosse team set to play UMBC at 2 p.m.
Furman 9, Canisus 8 (OT)
DENVER, Colo. – Robbie Betchley scored just fifteen seconds in to the first overtime period to give Furman its first win of 2015, a 9-8 decision over Canisius in Furman’s first game of the Frontier Airlines Face-Off Classic in Denver, Colo. The win moves Furman to 1-2 on the season, while the loss drops Canisius to 0-2.
Kenny Meinsen recorded his second-straight hat trick to lead Furman offensively, while Jonah Moore, Brady Dashiell, Scott Primeau, Trevor Atkins, Robbie Betchley and Michael Toto each added a goal for the Paladins. Hil Blaze with 10-20 from the face-off X and Ben Yetman picked up a team-high four ground balls. Jonah Moore turned in a team-high two assists, and freshman goalie Reilly McDermott recorded 10 saves and picked up his first win of the season.
Canisius was led by Billy Jacobbi and Cody Gould with two goals each, while goalie Alex Govenettio recorded nine saves. Tim Edwards led the Golden Griffins with two assists.
Furman opened the scoring early, taking a 1-0 lead on a goal from Brady Dashiell just 51 seconds into the game. Canisius evened the score at one with 12:34 remaining, before three-straight Furman goals gave the Paladins a 4-1 lead. Canisius used a goal with 3:27 remaining to cut the Furman lead to 4-2 at the end of the first. The Golden Griffins were took over the scoring in the second, netting three goals and holding the Paladins scoreless to take a 5-4 lead into the half.
Three Paladin goals in ten minutes in the third put the Paladins up 7-5, before Canisius scored with 4:45 remaining to cut into the Furman lead at 7-6. Furman used a man-up goal from Kenny Meinsen to take an 8-6 lead with 12:45 remaining in the game, but two goals in the next six minutes by Canisius tied the game at eight. Both teams were held scoreless over the final 6:51 to send the game to overtime.
After a face-off win by Hil Blaze, Robbie Betchley took a pass from Jack McNeill and buried it to give Furman the 9-8 victory in sudden death overtime.
Furman is back in action tomorrow, facing off against No. 1 Denver at 3:30 p.m. (ET).
Jacksonville 12, St. John's 11 (OT)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Jacksonville Dolphins men's lacrosse team upturned the St. John's (N.Y.) Red Storm in a 12-11 overtime victory on Saturday evening at D.B. Milne Field.
Six of the Dolphins contributed to the 12 goals, Dakota Rohlin and Chase McIntyre both scored three each, including Rohlin's game-winning goal. Tom Moore and Conor Igoe each scored two. Followed up with Rob Moore and Quint Miller with a solo goal each. Bass Barfield led the defensive game with 15 saves on the evening. Jacksonville led in shots, faceoffs won, clears and saves.
Jacksonville controlled the ball in the first quarter forcing two turnovers that gave them the goals. Rohlin scored first with an assist from Igoe to get the ball rolling. A minute and a half later Tom Moore scored to put the Dolphins up 2-0.
In the second quarter, Rob Moore scored first off a Bass Barfield save and a completed clear attempt. Jacksonville's Igoe struck after a Barfield blocked a shot off the Red Storm's Haynes. Less than a minute and a half later and McIntyre scored his fourth goal on the season, being assisted by Rob Moore to put the Dolphins up 5-0. St. John's countered with a quick goal after controlling the faceoff. But Jacksonville's Sam Rosengarden controlled the next faceoff, leading McIntyre to his fifth goal of the season and the sixth goal for the Dolphins to end the half.
After halftime, the competition kicked it up a notch, though Jacksonville's Miller scored right out of the gate. The Red Storm decided to fight back and scored a goal just four and half minutes into the third quarter. The Dolphin's Tom Moore made quick work of a goal after a St. John's faceoff violation, scoring just seconds after the face off. Unfortunately, the Red Storm went on a 6-0 run to end the third period, to put the score tied up at 8-8.
St. John's scored quickly just nine seconds into the fourth quarter, after forgoing a faceoff possibility as they held onto the ball prior to the third quarter ending. Two and a half minutes into the fourth and St. John's scored again putting them up 10-8. Jacksonville did not like that and a minute later Rohlin added his second goal of the game. McIntyre tied up the game with a goal assisted from Tom Moore after Rosengarden claimed another faceoff victory due to a St. John's violation.
The Red Storm posted another goal, but the Dolphin's countered with an Igoe goal from Tom Moore that would take the teams into overtime.
To start over time, Rosengarden claimed his 19th faceoff victory which led to Rohlin receiving the ball and running straight to the goal to score the game-winning goal and to end the game.
The Dolphins return home on Tuesday, March 3 as they face Michigan at D.B. Milne Field. The game will also be broadcast on ESPN.