RICHMOND, Va. – No. 2 seed High Point raced out to a 7-1 lead and held on for an 11-8 victory over No. 1 seed and 18^th-ranked Richmond in the title game of the 2021 Southern Conference Men’s Lacrosse Championship at Robins Stadium on Friday. High Point got four goals and an assist from Kevin Rogers, 12 saves from goalkeeper Parker Green and a 17-for-22 effort from the faceoff dot from Davis Sampere in the winning effort.
 
The championship is the Panthers’ first since 2015, which also came against top-seeded Richmond in its own stadium.
 
The Panthers (8-5) will learn their postseason destination when the first-ever joint NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Championships Selection Special airs on ESPNU on Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern.
 
High Point’s win avenged a 17-10 loss to the Spiders (7-6) on March 26 as well as a 15-7 setback in the 2019 SoCon title game. The 2020 tournament was not contested due to the coronavirus pandemic.
 
High Point nearly pitched a shutout in the opening quarter, opening up a 4-0 lead before Tyler Shoults got Richmond on the board with 5 seconds remaining. Tournament Most Outstanding Player Asher Nolting got the scoring started at the 7:48 mark, with Koby Russell doubling the Panthers’ lead just 1:11 later. Rogers scored less than a minute later as the Panthers continued to apply pressure early, and Dalton Sulver made it a four-goal spread with the first of his two goals on the day with 2:25 left in the opening frame.
 
Sulver, Nolting and Brayden Mayea scored within the first 5 minutes of the second quarter to make it a 7-1 affair before Richie Connell scored to begin a 5-0 Richmond run bridging halftime. Shoults again scored late in the period, with his goal with 30 seconds left before the break making it 7-3 at halftime as Richmond matched its lowest first-half output of the season.
 
Dalton Young, Mitch Savoca and Connell scored in the third for the Spiders, who shut out the Panthers in the frame to draw within a goal at 7-6.
 
The Panthers reclaimed control in the fourth, however, with Rogers notching a hat trick in the final quarter alone as High Point won the frame 4-2. Rogers’ four goals on the day pushed his season total to a league-leading 36, one ahead of teammate Mayea and UR’s Young and Connell.
 
SoCon Offensive Player of the Year Ryan Lanchbury of Richmond scored both of his goals in the fourth quarter as the Spiders were attempting to complete the comeback. SoCon Defensive Player of the Year Sean Menges had five caused turnovers in the contest, the second-most in a game in tournament history, and totaled a tournament-record nine in the Spiders’ two games.
 
Sampere jumpstarted High Point’s offense Friday by winning a season-best 17 faceoffs, matching the SoCon tournament single-game record that he already shared with two other players thanks to his efforts against the Spiders in the 2019 final. His .773 winning percentage Friday was his second-best of the season, while his nine ground balls matched his season high.
 
Green, who made a couple of spectacular saves late as High Point was fighting off Richmond’s rally, finished with a .600 save percentage, matching his second-best mark of the season.
 
Rogers (four), Sulver (two) and Nolting (two) finished with multiple goals for the Panthers, each notching one assist. Lanchbury, Connell and Shoults each had two goals for the Spiders, with Connell assisting on two goals, as well.
 
High Point improved to 2-1 in title-game appearances. Richmond, which has participated in the title game every year the tournament has been contested, fell to 2-4.
 
The squads shared the regular-season SoCon title this year, each posting 5-1 league records.
 
SoCon Men’s Lacrosse Championship
(Robins Stadium; Richmond, Va.)
May 5 (Wednesday)
No. 1 Richmond 11, No. 4 Air Force 6
No. 2 High Point 11, No. 3 Jacksonville 9
 
(Robins Stadium; Richmond, Va.)
May 7 (Friday)
No. 2 High Point 11, No. 1 Richmond 8
 
Pinnacle Award (highest GPA on championship-winning team)
Colin Clothier, Sr., High Point
 
Most Outstanding Player
Asher Nolting, Sr., High Point
 
All-tournament team
Tommy Hellman, Air Force
Jason Rose, Air Force
Jacob Greiner, Jacksonville
Colin Hinton, Jacksonville
Tate Gallagher, Richmond
Sean Menges, Richmond
Tyler Shoults, Richmond
Parker Green, High Point
Asher Nolting, High Point
Kevin Rogers, High Point
Davis Sampere, High Point
Dalton Sulver, High Point