College Men’s Lacrosse Final – #20 Lynchburg 21, Guilford 5

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Kyle Lewis scored three goals and an assist in visiting University of Lynchburg’s 21-5 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) lacrosse win at Guilford College Wednesday.

The Hornets, ranked 20th in this week’s United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association NCAA Division III Poll, improves to 11-5 overall and 8-1 in the ODAC. Guilford drops to 7-9 (1-8) after dropping their regular-season home finale.

After a sluggish start that saw one Lynchburg goal in the first eight minutes, the Hornets erupted for five goals in the final 7:06 of the first quarter on the way to an 11-0 halftime lead. Lewis scored twice in the first quarter and teammate Trammel Robinson notched all three of his game-high assists in the period. Lynchburg held a 19-2 edge in shots over Guilford in the second period alone and outshot the Quakers, 61-26 for the game.

Nick Willertz and Lewis scored in the opening two minutes of the second half, which upped Lynchburg’s lead to 13-0 before Guilford’s Bryce Craig got the Quakers on the board with 12:01 left in the third. Craig also scored later in the third, which was Guilford’s most competitive period.

The Hornets’ Andrew Carpenter scored twice in the fourth quarter in a 5-0 Lynchburg spurt before Guilford’s Joe Eggleston closed the scoring with 4:04 to play.

Thirteen different Hornets scored in the win, including Brett Rogers, who finished with a game-high five points on two goals and three assists. Carpenter, Evan Lombardo, Kevin Rogers, Nate Shafer, and Andrew Thomas also scored twice. Craig Koester won 7-of-12 face-offs and picked up two ground balls. Bo Delaney was 10-for-14 on face-offs and collected a game-best seven ground balls. Lynchburg won 20 of the game’s 30 draws. Patrick Cornelius held Guilford scoreless in the first half and made five of the team’s six saves.

Craig’s two goals led Guilford’s offense. Brennan Sweeney had two assists and Eggleston finished with one goal and one assist. Jack Rogers played three quarters in goal and made eight saves. Charlie Ellis (4 saves) and Ethan Bell (3 saves) also saw time in the cage.

Coach Mark Crisco’s Quakers close the regular season at league-rival Randolph College Saturday (4/27) at 1:00 p.m.