Austin Geisler Makes Career-High 20 Saves In HPU Men’s Lacrosse Team’s Loss To No. 16 Drexel

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Redshirt-junior Austin Geisler made a career-high 20 saves but the High Point University men’s lacrosse team lost to No. 16 Drexel, 11-8, on Friday at Vert Stadium. High Point outscored the Dragons in the second half but couldn’t overcome an early deficit.

Drexel built a six-goal lead early in the third quarter and used it to hold off a late surge by the Panthers. High Point outscored the Dragons 5-2 over the final 20 minutes but couldn’t maintain possession to complete the comeback. Redshirt-senior Bucky Smith scored two goals in the final 35 seconds of the game to make the final score 11-8.

“Drexel is a top 20 team and we let them build too big a lead early in the game,” said head coach Jon Torpey. “I am proud of the effort to fight back in the game. All we can do is learn from it and use it to prepare for the Atlantic Sun Tournament.”

Seven different Panthers scored in the game with only Smith tallying more than one goal. Sophomore Matt Thistle recorded three assists and freshman Michael LeClair added two assists. Geisler made a career-high 20 saves to go with one caused turnover and two ground balls.

The loss drops High Point to 8-6 on the season. The Panthers will play in the Atlantic Sun Tournament beginning on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. High Point earned the No. 2 seed and a share of the regular season title and awaits its opponent after this weekend’s games.

Drexel improved to 10-4 on the season. Ben McIntosh led the Dragons with three goals and one assist while Jules Raucci added two goals and one assist.

The Dragons scored the first four goals of the game before sophomore Dan Lomas found the back of the cage with 38 seconds left in the first quarter. The score extended Lomas’ point streak to 23 games and his goal streak to 14 games. Drexel tacked on four more goals in the second quarter and took a 8-3 lead in to halftime.

Jared Boudreau scored the first goal of the second half to give the Dragons their biggest lead of the night, 9-3. Christian Beith and Adam Seal scored back-to-back goals to end the period and make it a 10-6 game.

Smith scored the final two goals of the game make the final score 11-.8. High Point had a 28-17 advantage on ground balls while the Dragons outshot HPU 45-31. Sophomore Jamie Piluso was 10-of-22 at the face-off X.