LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Endicott men's lacrosse team dropped a hard-fought game, 14-12, to No. 14 nationally ranked Lynchburg College in non-conference action on Tuesday night at Shellenberger Field as the Hornets mounted a comeback late in the game.
Junior attackman Colin Bannon (Westport, Conn.) led the Gulls offensively in the loss with four goals and two assists. Senior attackman Mitchell Tapley (Falmouth, Maine) also contributed a hat-trick, while junior midfielder/face-off specialist Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.) added two goals for the Gulls.
Freshman attackman Matthew Faucher (Western Springs, Ill.), senior midfielder Peter Field Jr. (Hampstead, N.H.), and senior defender Ben Katzen (Blauvelt, N.Y.) rounded out the Gulls' attack with solo tallies. Junior attackman Will Jennings (Danvers, Mass.), junior midfielder Thomas Harvey (Huntington, N.Y.), and Katzen each had one assist for the Gulls.
The Gulls raced out to an early 2-0 lead with unassisted tallies from Tapley (12:15) and Bannon (10:40), before Lynchburg converted a man-up opportunity to cut the deficit with senior attackman Austin Stewart's (Reisterstown, Md.) first of a game-high six strikes on the night at the 8:52 mark of the first quarter on a feed from junior midfielder Joey Giannaras (Elkton, Md.).
Endicott then increased its lead to 4-1 as Tapley (7:28) and Bannon (4:27) found the back of the net again in order.
The Hornets rallied for four straight goals, including a desperation zinger at the buzzer from senior defender Joe Vincent (Lynchburg, Va.) to give Lynchburg its first lead at 5-4 as the first quarter expired.
Endicott scored twice to open the second quarter with Faucher's fourth goal of the season at 13:41, followed by Bannon's early hat trick at 13:02 to regain the lead, 6-5, in favor of Endicott.
The teams then traded goals and were scoreless from the 9:51 mark on as Endicott went into halftime up 7-6, having out-shot the Hornets 27-14 (14-10 on goal) in the first half.
The Gulls fired off four straight goals in the third quarter (five consecutive) to build their largest lead of the game, 11-6, with 8:50 remaining in the third quarter, but the teams headed into the final quarter of play with Endicott holding on tight to a 12-10 advantage.
Lynchburg out-shot Endicott, 10-6, in the fourth quarter in the only quarter that the Hornets' had more shot attempts than the Gulls and it paid off as senior attackman Aaron Murphy (Downingtown, Pa.) registered all three of his goals in back-to-back-to-back fashion to take the lead with 6:31 remaining in the game.
Senior midfielder Dane Angell (Raleigh, N.C.) added an insurance goal for good measure with 1:35 left to bring the final score to 14-12.
Endicott senior goalie Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) stopped a season-low six shots in the loss (2-4), while senior goalie Chris Hawley (Raleigh, N.C.) made 14 saves as he improved to 3-3 on the season.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Hughes went won a game high 21 face-offs, going 21-for-29 at the X and also notched a game-high 12 ground balls as Endicott scooped up 32 compared to the Hornets' 25.
- The Gulls fired off a season-high 46 shots (season-high 26 on goal) in the loss.
- Endicott was held scoreless in a single quarter in regulation for the first time all season as the Gulls were shut out in the fourth quarter.
- Endicott is 1-3 against nationally-ranked opponents this season.
FOR THE FOES
- The Hornets are ranked No. 14 in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III national poll.
- Stewart scored a game-high six goals (first quarter hat trick) and tallied one assist as he became the program's all-time points record holder tonight.
- Murphy tallied a game-high three assists in addition to his hat trick and picked up a team-leading five ground balls.
- Junior defender Cole Barrett (Alexandria, Va.) caused a game-high three turnovers.
- Senior midfielder Bobby Distler (New Canaan, Conn.) won a team-high 4-of-16 face-offs.
- Lynchburg was 3-of-5 on man-up opportunities, while Endicott was 0-for-2.
NOTES
- The Hornets evened the all-time series, 1-1, as Endicott won, 15-13, against then- No. 10 Lynchburg on March 10, 2015 in Beverly, Mass. in the most recent meeting before tonight.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (2-4) takes on Springfield College in Springfield, Mass. on Saturday, March 19 at 1:00 p.m., while Lynchburg (3-3) will compete in the Mustang Classic against Rochester Institute in Baltimore, Md. on Friday, March 18 at 5:30 p.m. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.