Richmond 20, High Point 9
HIGH POINT, N.C. - Four goals and two assists each from sophomores J.P. Forester and Dan Ginestro powered the Richmond Spiders on the road past High Point 20-9 at Vert Stadium in a key Southern Conference men’s lacrosse contest Saturday. The Spiders are 8-4 overall and the win kept Richmond in a tie for first in the Southern Conference at 4-0. The Panthers are 6-6 overall and an even 2-2 in the SoCon.
The game was the third this season in which Richmond scored 20 or more goals and it was the first time two teammates had six points and the first game in which four players had a hat trick.
The Spiders also got three goals from sophomore Mitch Goldberg and the first career hat trick from defenseman Brendan Hynes.
The Spiders dominated in part by winning faceoffs. Sophomore Peter Moran won 19 of the 29 faceoffs he competed for in the contest.
After the Panthers cored first at the 12-minute mark in the opening period, the Spiders reeled off six unanswered goals over the next 15 minutes, including two by Ginestro and the tone was set for the day.
The Spiders took 44 shots, allowing 31 in the game. Richmond led 33-17 in shots after the third quarter.
The Spiders also scored on both of their man-up opportunities, making the Panthers pay for their two one-minute penalties in the first two quarters.
Richmond sophomore goalie Benny Pugh had seven saves and got the win (8-4).
Richmond had 10 different players score at least one goal each. Ginestro’s six points were a career high and Forester’s six points were one off his school record of seven, set earlier this year against VMI.
The Spiders will travel to Louisville, Kentucky next weekend to take on new league foe Bellarmine in a 1 p.m. contest.
Bellarmine 17, Jacksonville 9
Furman 13, VMI 5
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Furman used a six-goal second quarter to take a lead it would never relinquish, downing VMI, 13-5, on Saturday in the Paladins’ final home game of 2015. The win moves Furman to 3-8 on the year, 2-3 in SoCon play, while the loss drops VMI to 0-12 in 2015, 0-5 in SoCon play.
Kenny Meinsen led all scorers with five goals, while Robbie Betchley III added three and Clay Adams and Matt Geran each netted two. Jonah Moore recorded three assists on the day, while goalie Reilly McDermott picked up his third win of the season, recording 13 saves.
Five different Keydets scored for VMI, while Tom Nofi added two assists for a team-high three points. Tyler Prasnicki picked up a game-high eight ground balls, while goalie Evan Windisch recorded eight saves.
Kenny Meinsen opened up the scoring for the Paladins, netting his 19th goal of the year half-way through the first quarter to give Furman the early 1-0 lead. VMI then scored three-straight goals to take a 3-1 lead with 2:40 remaining in the quarter, before Matt Geran scored his first goal of the season to cut the lead to 3-2 at the end of the first quarter.
VMI stretched its lead to 4-2 with 10:00 remaining in the second quarter, before Robbie Betchley III forced a turnover and assisted Meinsen’s second goal of the day to cut the lead to 4-3 with 7:40 remaining in the half. Back-to-back goals by Betchley and Clay Adams gave Furman the lead back at 5-4, before Meinsen added his third of the day to open up the Paladins’ biggest lead at 6-4 with 6:08 remaining in the half. Furman continued its offensive outpouring, scoring two more goals to push the lead to 8-4, before VMI netted a goal with just 26 seconds to go in the half to cut the lead to 8-5 heading into the halftime locker room.
Meinsen netted his fourth goal of the day with 12:24 remaining in the third to push Furman’s lead back to four at 9-5, before both teams turned up the defensive pressure, not allowing a goal for the remainder of the third quarter.
The Paladins continued to pile on the pressure on offensive, with goals from Geran, Meinsen and Betchley pushing Furman’s lead to 12-5 with 12:42 remaining. Clay Adams then scored with 9:54 remaining to push Furman’s lead to 13-5, before Furman’s defense shut down VMI for the remainder of the game, sealing the 13-5 win for the Paladins.
Furman is off next weekend before returning to action on April 25 at Jacksonville.
Air Force 10, Mercer 7
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men’s lacrosse team saw its four-game winning streak snapped on Saturday afternoon in a 10-7 loss to Air Force at Five Star Stadium.
The Bears slipped to 4-6 on the season while the Falcons won their third-straight and jumped to 7-5.
Sophomore Chris Rahill paced the Bears with four points on the strength of three assists while senior Tim Geran registered three points with two goals scored. Junior Chris Baxa also netted a pair of goals in the losing effort.
The Falcons struck twice in the first 3:05 of the game and never surrendered the lead after ultimately going ahead 3-0. The Bears got within a single goal of the lead on three separate occasions, but were unable to find an equalizing tally.
Geran and Baxa scored back-to-back goals to cut the Mercer deficit to 3-2 early on in the second quarter. Things remained that way until Air Force’s Nate Hruby and Mercer sophomore Jackson Kleintz both added late first half scores to send the hosts to the break trailing 4-3.
With 5:14 to play in the third quarter Hruby scored his third goal of the game to spark a stretch of five-unanswered Air Force goals. The Bears scored three times inside the first two minutes to account for the final margin.
Air Force held a slim 37-31 advantage in shots, while Mercer won the battle of ground balls, 29-22. The Falcons held the Bears to just 7-of-14 efficiency in clear attempts and also forced Mercer into 16 turnovers.
Senior Justin Evans won 9-of-21 faceoff and junior goalie Mike Nugent made 13 saves in goal. The Bears return to Southern Conference play hosting Jacksonville on April 18.