Christian Beith Tallies Four Points In HPU Women’s Lacrosse Loss At Towson

TOWSON, Md. – Towson used a 5-0 run in the third quarter to beat the High Point University men’s lacrosse team, 11-8, on Saturday in Towson. Md. Sophomore Christian Beith led the Panthers with two goals and two assists.

High Point led the Tigers, 5-4, at halftime but Towson shutout HPU in the third quarter while scoring five-straight goals to take the lead. Beith finished with a career-high four points on two goals and two assists. Sophomore Dan Lomas finished with two goals. Redshirt-junior Austin Geisler made 12 saves, including nine in the first half.

“I’m encouraged with our effort today,” said head coach Jon Torpey. “We fought for 60 minutes but we have to play with more poise. We had the lead at halftime but didn’t execute the game plan in the third quarter. Every team at this level is going to take advantage of the slightest lapse and our guys saw that today.”

Towson outshot High Point 41-26 and won the ground ball battle 25-14. High Point went 15-of-17 on clear attempts while Towson was 17-of-20.

Spencer Wichert scored the first goal of the game, with 8:57 on the clock in the first quarter. He picked up a ground ball and ran all the way down the field and scored from the right wins. Towson answered immediately to tie the game 1-1 with a goal by Justin Mabus just 20 seconds later.

The Panthers opened up a 3-1 lead with back-to-back goals from Tyler Cook and Mitchell Dupere. Both shots came from the left wing. The Tigers scored the next three goals, including a Max Siskind with 10:03 on the clock in the second quarter, to give Towson a 4-3 lead.

Bucky Smith tied the game, 4-4, with 7:42 left in the second quarter, with a shot through the legs of the Towson goalie. Towson’s Brian Bolewicki fired a shot off the post that bounced all the way back to midfield. Bieth picked up the ground ball and fed the ball to Lomas in front of the crease where the sophomore buried a low shot to give HPU a 5-4 lead with 4:22 left in the second quarter. High Point killed a two-man-up situation to end the half with the lead.

The Tigers shutout HPU in the third quarter while scoring five goals to take a 9-5 lead. High Point had possession for the first five minutes of the quarter but couldn’t capitalize on five early shots. The Tigers took possession and got a goal from Siskan to tie the game 5-5. Thomas DiNapoli scored the next two and Joe Selder scored the final two of the period. The Tigers led 9-5 at the end of the third quarter.

Beith scored twice in the fourth quarter and Lomas scored his second goal of the game to cut in to Towson’s lead and make it an 11-8 final.

Jamie Piluso went 6-of-15 from the face-off X with a team-high four ground balls. Chris Davila won 3-of-5 face-offs. Joseph Taulane picked up three ground balls.

HPU will return to High Point for the home opener on Feb. 15 against Saint Joseph’s. The first face-off is set for 1 p.m. HPU lost to the Hawks, 8-5, last year at a neutral site in Woodberry Forest, Va. Mitchell Dupere scored two goals in the contest.