HPU Men’s Lacrosse Falls To Richmond In A-Sun Title Game

MACON, Ga. – The High Point University men’s lacrosse team came up just short in the Atlantic Sun title game, falling to Richmond, 8-7, on Saturday in Macon, Ga. Sophomore Dan Lomas had four goals and one assist in the game and was named to the All-Tournament team. Redshirt-junior Austin Geisler and sophomore Matt Thistle also earned spots on the All-Tournament team.

High Point scored three-straight goals to tie the game 6-6 in the fourth quarter. Lomas notched the game-tying goal with an assist by Thistle with 11:10 left to play. Richmond answered with goals from Dan Ginestro and Tournament MVP Mitchell Goldberg to take an 8-6 lead with 3:21 remaining. Thistle pulled HPU within one, 8-7, with 2:39 to play but High Point couldn’t find the equalizer in the last few minutes.

“Richmond is a really well coached team and they executed their game plan perfectly,” said head coach Jon Torpey. “They capitalized and we didn’t late in the game. I am sad for our amazing three seniors. They are leaving the program much better than they found it and I can’t thank them enough.”

Lomas led all scorers with four goals and one assist. Thistle added one goal and two assists. Geisler made 12 saves with one caused turnover and five ground balls. Sophomore Jamie Piluso went 11-of-18 at the face-off X with 10 ground balls. Harris Levine had four caused turnovers and two ground balls.

High Point and Richmond traded goals in the first quarter to a 2-2 tie with 6:01 on the clock. The Spiders scored the final goal of the first and the only goal in the second quarter to take a 4-2 lead in to halftime. RU dominated time of possession and had three extra-man opportunities but the High Point defense held them to 0-of-3 on the man advantage.

Brad Burnam scored to give RU its biggest lead of the day, 6-3, with 6:27 to play in the third period. Lomas scored two goals and assisted a third to spark an HPU rally that tied the game 6-6 with just over 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Ginestro and Goldberg scored to swing the lead back to Richmond with 3:21 left in the game. Thistle scored with two and a half minutes left in the game to make it a one-goal lead for Richmond. High Point had possession of the ball in the final minute but a turnover at the top of the offensive zone gave Richmond back the ball and they held on for the 8-7 victory.

High Point finished its second season with a 9-7 overall record and a 4-1 mark in Atlantic Sun play.