SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The 2016 Southern Conference Men’s Lacrosse Championship begins Thursday at Robins Stadium on the campus of the University of Richmond. The four-team tournament will kick off with a showdown between regular-season champion Air Force and No. 4 seed Bellarmine at 5 p.m. followed by a clash between No. 2 seed Richmond and No. 3 seed High Point at 7:30 p.m.
Air Force (13-2, 7-0 SoCon), ranked 12th nationally, enters the tournament riding a 13-game winning streak, the longest active streak among Division I teams. The Falcons swept the league’s regular-season awards on Monday with Chris Walsch and Doug Gouchoe claiming Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year honors, respectively. Head coach Eric Seremet was named Coach of the Year and defender Brandon Jones was tabbed Freshman of the Year.
Bellarmine (6-8, 4-3 SoCon) will look to replicate the success it had against the Falcons on April 2, when it took the Falcons to overtime before eventually falling, 8-7. Junior Tucker Ciessau, who was named to the All-SoCon first team as a midfielder, leads the Knights in points (35) and goals (22).
Thursday’s late game will be a rematch of last year’s title game, which High Point won in thrilling fashion.
Richmond (10-4, 6-1 SoCon) enters having finished the season a game better than High Point (9-5, 5-2 SoCon). The Spiders will look to redshirt junior Henry Buonagurio to continue his stellar play in the net. Buonagurio stepped into the starting role on March 27 due to injury and has led the league in goals against average (6.44) and save percentage (.623) during that span.
The third-seeded Panthers will lean on their trio of veteran attackers – Dan Lomas, Michael LeClair and Matt Thistle – as they set about defending their 2015 championship. HPU boasted the league’s highest-scoring offense during the regular season with 11.14 goals per game.
Both semifinal winners will enjoy a day off before battling for the SoCon crown on Saturday at noon. The two semifinal contests will be shown on the SoCon Digital Network, and the championship game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
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