Men’s Lacrosse triumphs over Belmont Abbey, 13-11

SALISBURY, N.C. – Senior Dylan McQuarrie delivered his first career goal against his former team as the Catawba College men's lacrosse team got past Belmont Abbey, 13-11, for its third straight win on a rainy Saturday at Shuford Stadium.

TEAM STATS

- The Catawba Indians (3-0) recorded season highs of 46 shots and 31 on-goal deliveries, while Belmont Abbey (1-2) totaled 40 shots and put 19 attempts on target

- The non-conference rivals had an identical number of successful clears (19), but the Crusaders were more efficient in 20 opportunities compared to Catawba's 24

- Posting a 17-14 advantage on turnovers, the hosts had a smaller lead in the ground balls count at 32-31 as Belmont Abbey outdid Catawba 20-14 in the second half

- Catawba had the edge in faceoffs, winning 15 of the 28 battles as Cael Petroff went 14-for-26 and Dylan Cienfuegos tallied one victory on two attempts

- Brady Gauntner denied eight of The Abbey's 19 shots on goal while Christian Tomei notched a .581 save percentage with 18 saves for the Crusaders

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Andrew Crumpacker registered a hat trick using the first three blasts of his freshman campaign

- Peyton Turner accounted for five goals, scoring twice and distributing three assists, to boost his point total to 15 through three contests

- Frank Cetrone netted two goals and Jordan Dash supplied two points with a goal and an assist; five different players had one-score affairs

- Jack Butler paced the team in ground balls with a career-high eight pickups, followed closely by Petroff who tallied seven

- Among seven Catawba Indians with a caused turnover, Eric Fruge had the lone two-takeaway day

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Quarter

- 52 seconds after the opening faceoff, Garrett Simi fed Crumpacker to open the scoring in Catawba's favor

- A delayed cross-checking penalty against the Crusaders presented the hosts with their first man advantage, striking two seconds before returning to even strength on a bullseye from Cetrone

- Jacob Chandler put The Abbey on the board off an assist from Nate Lorenzo, but Catawba responded with Crumpacker's second dart stemming from a Dash feed

- The visitors tickled the twine on a Jack Clough delivery with 1:15 left in the quarter, shrinking the deficit to 3-2

Second Quarter

- Three quick goals – McQuarrie's dart and man-up strikes from Garrett Clare and Dash – kept Catawba ahead by a 5-3 margin

- Four Crusader goals in less than three minutes helped Belmont Abbey overtake the Catawba Indians, flipping the script to take a 7-5 advantage

- Cetrone and Jack Mercer were unassisted in their scores that leveled the ledger at 7-all

- A possession later, Jackson Braswell tore toward the crease and sent his only shot of the afternoon past the Crusader goalie to take a 8-7 lead into the locker room

Third Quarter

- It took 11 seconds for Petroff to win the first faceoff as Butler obtained the ground ball and connected with Turner, setting up the junior to raise the gap back to two

- Lorenzo kept Belmont Abbey in striking distance with a bullet minutes later

- However, Catawba went on a tear and saw Michael Lindsey, Tanner Stout and Turner register goals in a 62-second span

- Silence in the last eight minutes of the period featuring three Crusader turnovers pushed the game into the final period with Catawba leading 12-8

Fourth Quarter

- Lorenzo chucked a dart into the Catawba Indian net to slice the margin to three, but Crumpacker canceled it out with his third tally to secure the hat trick

- The Abbey benefitted from a Clough goal midway through the quarter

- Lengthy possessions by Catawba and a pair of clutch saves by Gauntner held off the Crusaders until Lorenzo scored with 28 seconds to go

- Belmont Abbey won the ensuing faceoff and Jeremy Mahoney fired a shot, but the Catawba defense deflected it and mobbed the Crusaders on the restart to solidify a 13-11 victory

UP NEXT

Boasting a 3-0 record for the fourth time in program history (started in 1994), Catawba looks to keep adding to its streak on Saturday, Feb. 22 when Barton comes to Shuford Stadium for a 2 p.m. start.