Richmond 11, Bellarmine 6
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Sophomore attack J.P. Forester assisted on the tying and go-ahead goals in the third quarter and sophomore goalie Benny Pugh stopped both attempts on goal in the second half as the Richmond Spiders remained unbeaten in Southern Conference play after an 11-6 road win at Bellarmine Saturday at O.B. Frazier Stadium.
The Spiders are 9-4 overall and a perfect 5-0 in the SoCon. The Knights slip to 4-7 overall, 2-3 in league play.
That sets up a de facto SoCon regular-season championship next Saturday at Robins Stadium when Richmond hosts 5-0 Mercer, with the winner claiming the top seed and host rights to the SoCon Championships the following weekend.
The Knights used the emotions of senior day to take control of the first half. After a BU goal off the opening faceoff, sophomore Mitch Goldberg tied it less than two minutes later and freshman Anthony Faraino put the Spiders ahead with nine minutes to go in the opening quarter. After a pair of Knights goals, redshirt senior Mickey Hofmeister scored a man-up goal before the end of the period to tie the game at three.
Bellarmine scored three of the four goals in the second quarter to take a 6-4 lead, but Richmond scored all seven goals in the second half.
Hofmeister scored the first goal of the second half to cut the lead to one before junior Cory Palmer got the feed from Forester for the game-tying goal with 9:31 in the period and sophomore Dan Ginestro put the Spider up for good from Forester with 5:53 in the third.
Forester scored his second goal of the game and the final one of the contest, with 9:28 in the fourth.
Forester, Ginestro and Hofmeister all had two goals for the Spiders. Forester’s two assists gave him a game-high four points.
For the first time in program history, the Spiders shutout an opponent in the second half as part of the 7-0 run to close out the game. The defense caused eight turnovers, with reigning USILA National Defensive Player of the Week, sophomore defenseman Brendan Hynes, causing a game-high three. Hynes also collected a game-high eight ground balls, the third-straight week with eight or more from a defensive position.
Sophomore Benny Pugh made eight saves and collected three ground balls for his ninth win (9-4) of the season. He has all 15 goalie wins for Richmond in the program’s history.
Richmond and Mercer meet for the third time in the brief history of series. The Spiders will honor their first senior class at the game.
Mercer 9, Jacksonville 8 (2OT)
MACON, Ga. – Mercer freshman Scott Baird dished to classmate Jackson Kleintz for a game-winning goal in the men's lacrosse team's 9-8 double overtime victory on Saturday at Five Star Stadium.
Mercer remained unbeaten in Southern Conference play, moving to 5-6 (5-0 SoCon) on the year. Jacksonville dropped its fifth-straight game and fell to 4-7 (1-4 SoCon).
Kleintz finished with two goals and two assists while Baird also had a pair of goals in conjunction with an assist. Junior Chris Baxa netted three goals to take over the top spot in Mercer career history in both points (106) and goals (80).
Also scoring in the victory were senior Tim Geran and sophomore Ben LeSane. Sophomore Chris Rahill notched a pair of assists.
The Bears had things clicking on all cylinders early, breaking off a streak of five-straight goals to assume an 8-2 lead with 5:26 to play in the first half. Jacksonville's Dakota Rohlin closed the half's action with a goal at the 4:27 juncture to provide the visitors a modicum of momentum entering the break.
Out of intermission, Jacksonville elected to sub in back-up goalie Ben Gleichenhaus and the Bears were suddenly unable to find the net. Mercer reeled off 22 shots in the second half but failed to score as the Dolphins pieced together five unanswered goals to tie the game at 8-8 with 8:11 to play.
Mercer's defensive unit buckled down and forced overtime by holding Jacksonville without a shot for the remainder of regulation. A late Mercer penalty gave Jacksonville an extra-man opportunity at the outset of the first overtime, but the Bears killed that opportunity and things would remain even-strength the rest of the way.
After the first overtime concluded without a score, Jacksonville won the faceoff to earn the first possession of the second extra period. Mercer freshman Dustin White then made what proved to be a game-changing play, forcing a turnover that led to the Kleintz's game-winner.
White's caused turnover led to a run-out opportunity for Baird, who spotted Kleintz unmarked at the far post. Baird's pass hit its mark and Kleintz deposited the game-winner with 2:42 on the clock.
Mercer junior goalie Mike Nugent made 12 saves while playing all 65:18 in goal for the Bears. He was credited with the win and moved to 5-6 on the season.
Mercer's win was its third SoCon overtime victory of the year. The Bears now hit the road for the regular season finale against fellow SoCon unbeaten Richmond on April 25. The winner will be crowned the SoCon's Regular Season Champion and earn hosting duties for the SoCon Tournament on April 30-May 2.