HPU MLAX Panthers travel to Virginia for showdown with Cavilers

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s lacrosse team travels north to take on No. 10 Virginia on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Charlottesville, Va.

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The Cavilers (1-1) mark the third top-10 opponent of the young season for the Panthers (0-3).

Last Time Out
The Purple & White battled to a 6-3 lead over No. 4 Maryland in the second quarter on Saturday in College Park, Md. However, the Terrapins fought back to take a 10-9 lead headed to the fourth before pulling away to a 15-10 victory.

Senior Dan Lomas led the offense with four goals and one assist while junior Michael LeClair posted three goals on the afternoon. Rounding out the attack trio, senior Matt Thistle chipped in with three assists. From the midfield, junior Dallas Bridle added a goal and two assists.

In goal, freshman Tim Troutner made his collegiate debut with 16 saves, two caused turnovers and four ground balls. Meanwhile, his high school classmate Alex Woodall went 12-of-25 at face-off and scored his first career goal.

Three-Headed Attack
• The trio of Dan Lomas, Matt Thistle and Michael LeClair has accounted for 306 points of HPU’s 564 points (54 percent) over the last two-plus seasons.

• All three were among top-five scorers in the SoCon last season and have picked up where they left off. Lomas leads the league (4.0/g) while LeClair is third (1.3/g) and Thistle is ninth (2.3/g).

Experience Abounds
The Panthers have 10 players that have seen action in at least 40 career contests led by Zack Price and Jamie Piluso who have played in all of HPU’s 48 contests. The other nine student-athletes are Nick Bittner, Richard Byrd, Tyler Cook, James Dunn, Dan Lomas, Joseph Taulane, Matt Thistle and Adam Seal.

Scoring Depth
The Panthers had 28 different players tally at least one point during the 2015 season with 19 of them returning in 2016. A dozen different HPU players have scored in 2016.

Scouting the Cavilers
• The Cavilers were tied for third with Syracuse in the preseason ACC poll and was at No. 8 in the national poll.

• UVA dropped its season-opener to Loyola Maryland by a score of 11-4. However, the squad bounced back on Saturday with a 14-7 victory at Drexel behind five points from senior Greg Coholan (3g, 2a).

• Coholan – the team’s leading scorer with six points – was the No. 6 draft pick in the 2016 Major League Lacrosse draft. He was joined by attackman James Pannell and LSM Michael Howard as the three Cavs selected in the draft.

• Junior Matt Barrett – the preseason all-league goalie – has stopped 19 of the 37 shots he’s faced this season (.514). Last season, Barrett earned All-ACC and All-America second team status with 12.2 saves per contest.

• Redshirt-sophomore Jason Murphy has been lights out in the face-off circle winning 21 of his 29 attempts.

All-Time Series with Virginia
Tuesday marks the first time that the Panthers and the Cavilers have met in men’s lacrosse.

All-Time Against the ACC
The Purple & White are 0-6 against the Atlantic Coast Conference with an 0-3 mark against North Carolina and 0-3 against Duke.

Next Up
The Panthers are back on the road on Saturday at noon when they take on Robert Morris in Moon Township, Pa.