Three unanswered goals pushes Men's Lacrosse over SNHU in thriller

Salisbury, N.C. – The Catawba College Men's Lacrosse team took down the Southern New Hampshire Penmen in a thrilling matchup at a rainy Shuford Stadium on Wednesday by a score of 10-9, bouncing back after their overtime loss to Barton on Saturday and improving to 4-2 on the season after a gutsy effort at home.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba outshot Southern N.H. 41-36, with 27 of Catawba's shots coming target compared to 17 efforts on goal for Southern N.H.

- Catawba also won the turnover battle, giving the ball away just 11 times compared to 25 times for Southern N.H.

- The Penmen recovered more ground balls, 29-22, and won the faceoff battle by a margin of 19-3

- In goal, Catawba's James Crighton earned the win with eight saves on sixteen shots faced, moving to 4-2 on the season. Ronan DePaul took the loss for Southern N.H., falling to 1-2 despite making 17 saves

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

- Hunter Clarke, Gabriel Barker and Jordan Dash each tallied a pair of goals in the winning effort, with Bakari Neely, Frank Cetrone, Tanner Stout and Garrett Simi also getting on the board

- Seven Catawba players recorded assists, with Neely, Barker, and Stout contributing both at least a goal and an assist as well

- Peyton Turner attempted seven shots to lead the team, with Barker attempting six and Dash, Clarke, and Cetrone all tallying five

- Crighton led the team with six ground balls, followed by Javondre Paige with three and five players with two each

- Paige, Kyle Chessock and Dylan Kesselring each caused a pair of turnovers, tying for the game high

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST QUARTER

- Barker struck first at 12:18 as Catawba made the most of a man-up opportunity, with Stout providing the assist on the game's opening goal

- It would be a defensive battle for much of the first half as Catawba held onto their 1-0 lead, with Barker's goal seeming like it would be the only one of the opening 15:00

- That was until Catawba struck twice over a :17 second span in the final minute to a take a 3-0 lead into the break. Clarke doubled the lead with :21 seconds to go, and then Dash would tack on another goal with just :04 left before the end of the first quarter

SECOND QUARTER

- After Catawba's late surge in the final minute of the opening quarter, it would be Southern N.H.'s turn to strike twice on the side of the break. Cody Fleming put the Penmen on the board just :39 seconds after the restart at 14:21, followed just :10 seconds later by Owen McCormack with the score suddenly 3-2 Catawba

- Neely put Catawba back up by two after being picked out by Tyler Wedick at the 10:23 mark

- Southern N.H.'s offensive would spark back to life at 5:52, with Ryan Lynch capitalizing on a man-up opportunity before Fleming notched his second goal of the game to tie the contest up with 4:29 to go, 4-4

THIRD QUARTER

- Fleming and Clarke traded goals just over a minute apart to begin the second half, with the Penmen taking their first lead of the game thanks to Fleming completing his hat-trick at 12:38 and Clarke tying the game 5-5 1:22 later

- Dash, who has now scored in each of Catawba's opening six games, put the home side back ahead with a man-up goal assisted by Neely with 6:37 to go in the quarter

- But the lead wouldn't last long, with Southern N.H. ripping off a 3-0 run over a 2:34 minute span. Jack Terrones began the run as he tied the game at 6-6 at the 4:28 mark, followed by Fleming again at 3:42 and capped off by McCormack with 1:56 to go in the frame as the Penmen took an 8-6 lead

- Barker tallied his second goal of the game and his eighth over the last four with :34 seconds to go before the final intermission, with Dash providing the assist to cap off a wild quarter with the score showing Southern N.H. ahead, 8-7

FOURTH QUARTER

- A frenzied sequence to begin the final 15:00 saw Crighton sent to the sidelines for a minute due to a penalty, and Brady Gauntner would be unable to prevent Sean Dwyer from putting Southern N.H. ahead 9-7 during the man-up opportunity with 13:16 to go

- Cetrone got himself on the board at the 7:52 mark thanks to an assist from Turner as Catawba made the most of a man-up possession, making it a one-score game

- That would set the stage for Catawba to storm back ahead with two decisive goals in under a minute to take the win. Stout tied the game at 9-9 after being teed up by Peyton Leonard with 3:13 left, before Simi put Catawba ahead for the first time since the second quarter off of an assist from Barker just :52 seconds later

- Simi's goal to make it 10-9 with 2:21 to go would prove to be the winner, with Catawba scoring three straight goals over the final eight minutes while shutting the Penmen out to secure the victory

UP NEXT

- The Catawba College Men's Lacrosse team is back in action on Saturday, March 9, as they welcome the Mars Hill Lions to Shuford Stadium for a South Atlantic Conference matchup set for 12 p.m.