• Junior Peyton Garrett posted his first multi-goal outing of the year with two goals on the afternoon.
• In the cage, sophomore Tim Troutner Jr. made 11 saves and picked up a ground ball.
• The Panthers return home on Saturday, April 15 at noon to take on Furman in Vert Stadium.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The High Point University men’s lacrosse team battled back to even the score at 5-5 in the fourth at Bellarmine on Saturday. However, the Knights responded with the final two goals to earn a 7-5 victory in Southern Conference action.
The Panthers (3-8, 1-3) trailed 5-3 as the contest entered the fourth quarter. But the Purple & White wouldn’t go quietly as juniors Peyton Garrett and Connor Robinson equaled the score with back-to-back goals. From there, though, the Knights (3-7, 2-2) netted goals at the 7:35 and 0:35 marks to build their winning margin.
“We needed guys to step up throughout the day and string together a series of simple plays and we just could not do it,” head coach Jon Torpey said. “This has been an incredibly challenging stretch for our program and through times like this you learn a lot about your team. I still very much enjoy coaching this group, but we need to execute at a higher rate with a much greater sense of urgency if we want to be successful in late-season conference games.”
Garrett scored HPU’s first and fourth goals of the day to tally his first multi-goal game of the season. Meanwhile, senior Sean Harrison dished out two assists to reach 10 helpers on the season.
Defensively, sophomore Tim Troutner Jr. stopped 11 Bellarmine shots including five in the first quarter. Similarly, senior Tanner Landstra led the way with two caused turnovers as junior Terrell Sands picked up two ground balls.
Senior Nick Basile and juniors Chris Young and Connor Robinson all netted a goal apiece while senior Michael LeClair was credited with an assist to round out the scoring for HPU.
Overall, the Panthers outshot the Knights 36-30 despite seeing Bellarmine post a 17-14 margin on the ground. Likewise, the home team was able to build its first half lead thanks to a 7-1 advantage at the face-off ‘X.’ In total, the Knights won 10 of the contest’s 15 face-offs.
In the first quarter, Garrett put the Panthers on the board first with 10:14 on the clock. Bellarmine was finally able to even the score at 1-all despite five saves from Troutner.
Young, then, scored off a transition feed from Harrison to give HPU a 2-1 lead early in the second. However, the Knights finished the half on a 3-0 run to build a 4-2 lead.
After the break, neither team scored until Basile posted an EMO tally to pull HPU within 1 with 1:27 left in the third. But Bellarmine beat the third-quarter buzzer to regain a two-goal edge headed to the fourth.
High Point, then, mounted a comeback to even the score at 5-5. But the squad couldn’t regain the lead as the Knights scored twice in the final 7:35 to claim the victory.
The Purple & White return to the Vert Stadium turf on Saturday, April 15 at noon to host Furman at noon.