Coker knocks off Men's Lacrosse on late goal

Hartsville, S.C. – The Catawba College Men's Lacrosse team dropped a tough game on the road against the Coker Cobras, dropping to 5-3 on the season and 2-1 in Conference play after two late Coker goals capped off a second-half comeback to hand Catawba a 11-10 loss at Coker Athletic Field on Wednesday afternoon  

TEAM STATS 

- Catawba outshot Coker 32-27, putting 25 attempts on goal while Coker had 21 shots on target  

- Ground balls and turnovers were nearly identical; both teams gave the ball away 17 times, while Coker just recovered more ground balls, 17-16 

- Nine of Coker's goals featured assists, compared to five for Catawba 

- In goal, Coker's Ethan Hofert stopped 15 shots to take the win, moving to 3-4 on the year. Catawba's James Crightondelivered 10 saves, but fell to 5-3 on the season 

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS 

 - Gabriel Barker, Tanner Stout, and Garrett Simi each scored a pair of goals, while Jordan Dash, Payton Leonard, Bakari Neely, and Frank Cetrone also found the back of the net 

- Simi and Peyton Turnereach tallied a pair of assists as well, with Simi's four points leading the team. Kyle Chessockadded Catawba's fifth assist 

- Dylan Cienfuegosled the team with four ground balls, followed by a three-way tie of Chessock, Leonard, and Dylan Kesselring with two each 

- Brian Garcia and Javondre Paige tied for the team-high with a pair of caused turnovers apiece  

- Cienfuegos would also win a game-high 14 of 21 faceoffs 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

FIRST QUARTER 

- Simi would draw first blood at the 12:37 mark, assisted on the play by Turner. Catawba wouldn't let up offensively, with Cienfuegos winning the ensuing faceoff and Cetrone able to rifle a shot home just 1:23 later to make it a quick 2-0 lead. Barker made it a 3-0 Catawba run in just 2:30 of action, blasting a shot past Hofert at 10:07  

- Coker had an answer though, with Zyaire Marshall putting them on the board not long after at the 10:25 mark. Similar to Catawba, the Cobras would score their second goal just after a minute after the opener; Elijah Utz brought Coker within one at 2-3 with 9:08 to go in the first half  

- Neely would put Catawba back on top by two just :40 second later, capping off a wild first half to the opening 15:00 

- Stout netted Catawba's second straight goal off of an assist from Simi with 3:52 to go in the quarter, restoring the three-goal lead as he gave the visiting side a 5-2 lead over Coker at the first intermission  

SECOND QUARTER 

- Catawba opened the second quarter with a bang, taking advantage of a man-up opportunity thanks to cross-check at the end of the first period.  Barker would find the back of the net for the second time just :19 seconds after the intermission to make it 6-2 

- Caleb Hiltz scored Coker's first goal of the quarter at the 8:13 mark 

- After over eight scoreless minutes, Catawba snapped back into offensive form thanks to the play of Simi, who scored again to make it 7-3 with 4:06 to go and then proceeded to assist Stout for the second time in the half. Stout's second goal, coming at the death with :11 seconds to go in the quarter, sent Catawba into the half with a commanding 8-3 lead over the Cobras  

THIRD QUARTER 

- Coker, however, would prove far from done. Justin Beighey tallied the opening goal of the quarter 2:35 after the break, which would spark a 5-0 run from the home side 

- Jackson Duke brought Coker to within three, 5-8, at the 9:38 mark. Utz and Beighey then scored their second goals of the game just :41 seconds apart beginning with 6:31 to go. Marshall became the third Cobras player to notch his second goal of the game, tying the score at 8-8 at the 4:21 mark as Coker scored three goals in 2:20 minutes  

- Leonard broke the ice for Catawba in the second half and the deadlock, restoring Catawba's lead by making it 9-8 after an assist from Chessock with 1:12 before the end of the quarter  

FOURTH QUARTER 

- Marshall completed his hat-trick at the 11:16 mark, tying the game up once again with the score now 9-9 

- Dash answered for Catawba with 7:32 to go, with Turner providing his second assist of the game as Catawba took a 10-9 lead 

- But they couldn't contain Beighey, who scored his third and fourth goals of the half just 1:18 apart at 4:44 and 3:26 to give Coker it's first lead of the game. That would prove to be the final lead change of the game, with the Cobras holding on over the final three minutes in a stunning comeback  

GAME NOTES 

- Simi's four point outing was his second this season, as he's now also scored a goal in seven of eight games along with Cetrone 

- Barker has now scored in six straight games, with five multi-goal outings over that span  

- Neely has now scored in four straight games, with five goals over that span  

- Stout made it three straight games with a goal, with his two on the day becoming his first multi-goal effort 

- Turner and Dash have notched at least a point in each of Catawba's games this season  

UP NEXT 

- The Catawba College Men's Lacrosse team is back in action on Saturday, returning home to Shuford Stadium as they face a big test in the form of the 6th-ranked Newberry Wolves at 3 p.m.