GREENVILLE, S.C. – The High Point University men’s lacrosse team beat Furman, 15-7, on Saturday at Paladin Stadium in Greenville, S.C. The Panthers improve to 7-3 overall and 3-1 in Atlantic Sun play with the win. Sophomore Matt Thistle led all players with seven points.
“We began the week focused on playing 60 complete minutes,” said head coach Jon Torpey. “This is the most complete game we have had all season. We came out ready to play in the first quarter and finished strong in the fourth. From top to bottom we got contributions from every player.”
Thistle led HPU with three goals and four assists. Sophomore Dan Lomas added five points on four goals and one assist. All four of Lomas’ goals were assisted by Thistle. Graduate student Stevie Kirkup and sophomore Mitchell Dupere added two goals each while freshman Matt Koerner added two assists.
Redshirt-junior Austin Geisler made 11 saves for the win. Sophomore Jamie Piluso went 16-of-21 on face-offs with a team-high five ground balls. Harris Levine had two caused turnovers and four ground balls.
High Point improves to 7-3 on the season and 3-1 in conference play. Furman is 0-9 overall in its first season with a 0-1 mark against Atlantic Sun opponents.
Furman got on the scoreboard first with a goal by Matt Geran with 10:12 on the clock in the first quarter. The Panthers went on a four-goal run to take control of the game. Thistle picked up a ground ball and fed it to Lomas in front of the crease for the first HPU goal of the game. Lomas and Thistle teamed up for the second goal of the game with 3:54 to play in the first, to put the Panthers in the lead for the first time, 2-1. Kirkup and Brad James added goals to push the HPU lead to 4-1 early in the second quarter.
The Paladins tallied their second goal of the game with 11:38 on the clock in the second quarter. Geran put a shot off the near post that trickled in to the goal. High Point scored the final three goals of the half, two by Dupere, to lead 7-2 at the break.
Furman picked up the offensive production in the third quarter with three goals but High Point had an answer every time. The Paladins scored two goals in the first four minutes, both times the Panthers scored right after, once from Tyler Cook and once from Lomas. Lomas’ goal was assisted by Thistle and put HPU ahead 9-4. The two combined for another goal less than two minutes later and Thistle added a score with 8:28 on the clock that extended High Point’s lead to 11-4.
With five minutes left in the game Furman scored to make it a 13-7 High Point advantage. In the final four minutes of the game HPU got goals from freshman Cole Carns and redshirt-freshman Dan Murray to give HPU the 15-7 victory. Carns now has two goals on two shot this season.
Eight different Panthers scored in the game with Koerner getting on the board with two assists. Anthony Porchetta made two saves and Matt Siegmund made one save as the two combined for the final five minutes in goal.
High Point outshot Furman 42-38 and had the edge on ground balls, 34-20. The Panthers went 18-of-21 on clear attempts and 16-of-21 at the face-off X.
High Point continues its three-game road stretch at Bellarmine next Saturday at 7 p.m.