• Sophomore Asher Nolting led HPU with seven points (three goals, four assists).
• Four different Panthers logged hat tricks on the day.
• High Point guaranteed itself a spot in the SoCon Tournament on Thursday, May 2, with the win.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The High Point University men’s lacrosse team defeated Bellarmine, 16-15, on Saturday, April 20. The win guarantees the Panthers a spot in the SoCon Tournament on Thursday, May 2.
High Point (11-2, 5-1) went 19-35 at the face-off ‘X’ and 17-18 on clear attempts, while Bellarmine (3-9, 3-3) was 16-35 on face-offs and 20-25 on clears. The Panthers grabbed 30 ground balls and put 29 shots on goal.
“This was a great road win,” HPU head coach Jon Torpey said. “We knew this team was going to be tough coming in. They battled for 60 minutes along with our guys. Being down four in the second half, I loved the way our guys battled back, but we’ve got to be a little cleaner in the first half and parts of the second half to make sure that doesn’t happen again. All the credit goes to the guys.”
Sophomore Asher Nolting led the Panther with seven points (three goals, four assists). Nolting, redshirt senior Chris Young and sophomores Sean Coughlin and Koby Russell all tied for the team-high in goals with three. Junior Davis Sampere grabbed a team-high 10 ground balls and went 18-32 at the face-off ‘X’. Senior Tim Troutner Jr. led the Panthers in the cage with 14 saves, while junior Nick Walsh led the defense with two caused turnovers.
High Point trailed 12-13 with nine minutes to play in the game then Russell scored his third goal of the game to tie it at 13. Nolting hit a behind-the-head, no-look shot with 7:51 left to give HPU a 14-13 lead. Junior Dalton Sulver extended the HPU lead to 15-13 off an assist from Russell. Freshman Hunter Vines put the Purple & White up 16-13 off a Coughlin assist with 5:25 left in the game. The Knights scored twice before the final horn and HPU took a 16-15 win.
After two early third quarter goals from Bellarmine, Coughlin scored his third of the game with an assist from Nolting to cut the lead to 8-11. Sophomore Koby Russell scored two-straight unassisted goals to put the score at 10-11, then senior Griff Caligiuri tied the game at 11-11 with 3:48 left in the third quarter. Young locked up his hat trick and gave HPU a 12-11 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The Panthers fell behind 0-2 in the first, but responded with goals from Coughlin and Young. After two Bellarmine goals, Nolting netted two-straight to tie the game at 4-4 at the end of the first quarter.
The Knights took a 5-4 lead early in the second quarter then Young scored off an assist from Vines to tie the game at 5-5. Senior Jake Schleppy scored to give the Purple & White a 6-5 lead midway through the second quarter. Bellarmine went on a 3-0 run to take a 6-8 lead then Coughlin scored his second of the game to cut the score to 7-8. The Knights scored one before the end of the half to take a 7-9 lead at the break.
The Panthers went 10-18 at the face-off ‘X’, picked up 16 ground balls and caused three turnovers in the first half.
Up next, the Panthers will close the regular season by hosting Richmond on Saturday, April 27, for senior day. The opening face-off is set for 12 p.m.