BALTIMORE, Md. – The High Point University men’s lacrosse team battled UMBC on Saturday in Baltimore, Md., taking a 16-11 loss on the road. Redshirt-freshman Adam Seal and freshman Dan Lomas had three goals each.
“I thought the effort was good but not the best we’ve had all season,” said head coach Jon Torpey. “We didn’t execute the little details well like staying out of the box and they took advantage. They are a very well-coached team and they capitalized on our small errors. We gave them too much of a cushion early and spent the entire game playing catch up.”
UMBC took a quick 4-0 lead in the game. High Point cut it to one goal in the second quarter but were unable to catch the Retrievers.
Seal and Lomas led HPU with three goals each while Matt Thistle added two goals and two assists. HPU went 15-for-17 on clear attempts and won 17-of-28 faceoffs.
Scott Jones led UMBC with three goals and Nate Lewnes had two goals and four assists.
UMBC took a quick 4-0 lead in the game six minutes in to the first quarter. The Retrievers capitalized on some big saves from Wes DiRito and turned them in to goals at the other end.
Thistle put High Point on the board with a goal with 1:35 left in the opening quarter. Bryce Parietti blocked the UMBC defender behind the cage allowing Thistle to wrap around a score with a shot at Wes DiRito’s feet.
Jones picked up a lose ball in front of the cage and scored for the Retrievers with 11:35 in the second quarter. Less than a minute later Bucky Smith grabbed a pass from Dylan Bozel, dodged past a defender and scored from the right alley to make it a 5-2 game.
Austin Geisler saved a shot from Matt Gregoire and got the ball out to Michael Messenger. Messenger passed the ball from midfield to Thistle at the left post for a goal to cut UMBC’s to two, 5-3.
Jones bounced a shot past Geisler to push UMBC’s lead back to three, 6-3. Back-to-back goals by Brendan Montrello and Thistle got HPU within one again. Montrello whipped a shot in from the top, left of the attack zone. Lomas picked up a ground ball on front of the cage after a shot from Thistle was block. Lomas shot across his body to make it a 6-5 lead.
UMBC scored the next three goals to again open up a four-goal lead, 9-5, with 3:19 left in the second quarter.
Seal picked up a ground ball near the UMBC cage and passed out of traffic to Thistle behind the net. Thistle quickly sent the pass to Lomas streaking in front of the cage for a score. HPU trailed 9-6 at the half.
To open the third quarter Scott Hopmann scored for UMBC to give the Retrievers a 10-6 lead. With 10:24 on the clock in the third Smith fakes like he was going to pass and fired a shot from the left alley for his second goal of the day. Just over a minute later Brad James passed the ball in to traffic and found Seal who scored as he fell to the ground. At the end of the third quarter UMBC led High Point 11-9
The Retrievers scored the first goal of the fourth quarter a minute and a half in to the period. Seal scored his third goal of the game with 9:50 remaining to make it a 12-10 game. Montrello passed to Seal directly in front of the cage for a score. UMBC went on to win the game 16-11.
HPU returns home to face Brown on March 24 at 1 p.m. At Vert Stadium