• Junior Dan Lomas led the Panthers with four goals to reach 106 for his career.
• Freshman T Moyer scored a goal and posted two assists for his first three-point game with HPU.
• High Point has now won three straight games, its longest winning streak of the season.
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s lacrosse team registered a 9-6 victory over a pesky Jacksonville University squad at D.B. Milne Field on Saturday afternoon.
Despite trailing for much of the gam, the Panthers (6-5, 2-1) used a 4-0 run over the final 9 minutes to pull away from the Dolphins (4-5, 1-2) for a 9-6 triumph. HPU got four goals from junior Dan Lomas and 12 saves redshirt-senior Austin Geisler to lead the way.
“I really liked the way our guys fought back in the fourth quarter,” head coach Jon Torpey said. “ Jacksonville came out and played really hard for 60 minutes and I tip my cap to those guys. But our guys dug in and made plays late when we needed them.”
Freshman T Moyer registered a career high with three points (1g, 2a) while junior Matt Thistle added two insurance goals in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Sean Harrison had a multi-point game (1g, 1a) and freshman Connor Robinson chipped in with a man-up goal to round out the scoring.
Junior Zack Price caused four of the Dolphins 19 turnovers. Meanwhile, junior Jamie Piluso went 11-of-19 (.579) in a battle of the Southern Conference’s top two face-off specialists. Piluso, Price and junior Adam Seal all grabbed four ground balls to lead the team.
JU won the ground ball battle overall (31-26) and took four more shots than HPU (33-29). On the other hand, Geisler’s 12 stops and a +3 margin (16-19) in turnovers helped the Panthers overcome those numbers and earn the win.
Neither offense was able to gain any traction in the first quarter as both team committed six turnovers. The Dolphins notched the only score of the stanza when Dakota Rohlin found the back of the net with 7:52 in the first frame.
Lomas evened the score with an underhanded goal off an assist from Moyer just over two minutes into the second quarter (1-1, 11:57). JU moved back on top at 2-1 before the Panthers got a man-up goal from Robinson to make it 2-2 with 4:08 until the break.
From there, Lomas put the Purple & White on top for the first time with his second goal of the game (3-2, 1:01). However, the Dolphins tied it right back up with Rohlin’s second score (3-3, 0:36).
Harrison opened the second half by bouncing a shot past JU’s Bass Barfield to make it 4-3 with 13:23 left in the third quarter. Conor Igoe, then, scored his second goal of the afternoon for the Dolphins to knot the score at 4-4 with 10 minutes left in the quarter.
JU regained the lead when Chase Miller capitalized on a man-up opportunity to make it 5-4 with 5:48 on the clock. But Lomas stuck again. The Burlington, Ontario native scooped the ball off the turf and scored a behind-the-back goal in one motion to send the game to the final stanza tied 5-5.
However, the Dolphins jumped right back on top with a goal at the 14:04 mark to regain a 6-5 advantage. But once again, Lomas had the answer. The lefty scored to tie the contest seconds before Moyer scored to make it 7-6 with 8:38 to play.
Thistle scored two insurance goals (2:59 and 1:58) to close out the scoring and give HPU the 9-6 win.
The Purple & White will continue SoCon play on April 11 at Vert Stadium against Richmond at noon.