HPU Men’s Lacrossse Panthers Lose Heartbreaker In Double-OT to Lafayette

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s lacrosse team scored twice in the last 1:29 of regulation to force overtime but Lafayette scored the game-winner in the second OT for a 10-9 win over the Panthers on Wednesday night at Vert Stadium. Sophomore Matt Thistle had two goals and two assists for HPU.

Down by one, 9-8, with less than a minute remaining, freshman Dan Lomas cut in front of the Lafayette goal and scored to tie the game with 33 seconds left to play. Lomas scored off a pass from Matt Thistle to knot the game at 9-9.

With the clock running out during the second overtime period Lafayette came up with a lose ball at midfield. The HPU defense had moved forward to fight for the ground ball leaving Lafayette’s Kevin Wanke alone to catch and pass and score the game-winning goal.

“Obviously we didn’t get the result we wanted tonight,” said head coach Jon Torpey. “But I thought the guys fought hard and showed a lot of improvement from the Brown game. We really had some tough breaks in the overtime, with shots off the post, but it was a great effort after the first quarter. We will keep working hard and getting better as we prepare for Mercer this weekend.”??High Point won both face offs and outshot the Leopards 7-1 in the overtime periods. The Leopards went the length of the field and scored to win the game on their only shot of extra time.

With the loss, HPU falls to 2-8 while Lafayette improves to 3-7.

Redshirt-freshman Mitchell Dupere chipped in two goals, two caused turnovers and three ground balls. Freshman Dan Lomas, redshirt-freshman Adam Seal, freshman Mike Messenger and redshirt-junior Bucky Smith each tallied two points with one goal and one assist. Sophomore Pat Farrell had four caused turnovers and three ground balls. Redshirt-sophomore Austin Geisler made 10 saves in goal

Sonny Round led the Leopards with four points on three goals and one assist. Morgan Westby added two goals and two assists. Jake Hyatt picked up the win in goal with 15 saves.??HPU went down 3-0 in the first quarter after giving up three early goals.

The Panthers got on the board with 1:27 left in the first period on a goal by Thistle. HPU forced a turnover in the midfield and broke into the offensive zone. Lomas passed the ball ahead to Thistle who beat the Lafayette goalie with a low shot to make the score 3-1. ??

Thistle pulled the Panthers back within one midway through the second quarter, scoring with 9:44 remaining in the half. Thistle set up off the left post and took a pass from Messenger which he wrapped around the post and into the goal to make the score 3-2.

Lafayette took advantage of HPU penalties to score twice over the next five minutes and pull ahead by three, but High Point came right back with a goal in the last minute of the half by Seal to make the score 5-3 at the half.??Smith pulled High Point back within one in the opening minutes of the third quarter, scoring with 13:39 left in the period to make the score 5-4.

The score remained unchanged for nine minutes until Dupere scored from distance off a pass from Seal to tie the game at 5-5 with 4:32 left in the third.

High Point took its first lead of game with 13:45 left in the fourth quarter on a goal by Messenger to make the score 6-5. Lafayette went on a three-goal run to take back the lead, 8-6, with 5:40 remaining in regulation.

After Dupere and Lafayette’s Brian Bock traded goals to make it a 9-7 LC lead, the Panthers scored two in a row to tie the game. Thistle passed through traffic for freshman Bryce Parietti who fired a shot past Hyatt with 1:29 on the clock. With 32 seconds left in the game Lomas tied the score 9-9 and sent the game in to overtime.

High Point won the ground ball battle, 31 to 24 and also went 12-of-22 at the face-off X. The Panthers were 14-for-16 on clear attempts while the Leopards went 16-for-26.

High Point will travel to Macon, Ga. on Sunday for a 1 p.m. game at Mercer. The Bears are 3-5 this season.