Site: Navy-Marine Corps MS (Annapolis, MD.)
Score: High Point 14, Navy 13
Records: High Point (2-2), Navy (3-2)
Annapolis, MD. — The High Point University men’s lacrosse team came out on top in a back and forth 14-13 battle in their first-ever matchup against Navy. Michael Ippolito led the way for the Panthers in scoring with four goals on the day. Asher Nolting netted three goals and dished out five assists for eight points.
Jon Torpey: “Incredibly proud of our team and our staff, their fight and resilience for 60 minutes was elite. Navy is a tremendous team with a great staff and that was a gritty road win. It was great to see some new faces out there today doing big things. This team is selfless and it’s an honor coaching such amazing guys.”
Panther Particulars
Navy struck first and scored two goals in the opening four minutes of play. Nolting got the Panthers on the board as he rolled his defender to score his first of the day.
Navy responded by scoring two more, but Nolting put a stop to their momentum once again as he beat his defender and snuck it past the Navy goalie to bring the score to 4-2.
The midshipmen found two more goals before Nolting connected with Hunter Vines to cut the Navy lead in half.
Nolting found his third of the day when he turned back the clock hit a jumping shot to the top right corner.
Navy added one more, but the Panthers kept the offensive pressure on with a Jackson Clay goal who picked up a ground ball off the face-off and scored to bring the score to 7-5 halfway through the second quarter.
Nolting connected with Brayden Mayea on a man-up opportunity to bring HPU within one of the Midshipmen.
The Panthers closed out the first half on another man-up goal as Nolting found Nick Murphy to bring the score to 8-7 entering the halftime break.
Navy scored the first goal of the third quarter but the Panthers answered with two more from Clay and Ippolito to tie the game at nine.
The Midshipmen hung around as they scored two more goals before HPU responded with three unanswered goals to close out the third quarter and take a 12-11 lead.
The back-and-forth action continued as Navy opened up the fourth quarter with a goal. Nolting connected with Mayea once again to regain the lead for the Panthers halfway through the fourth quarter.
It only took 40 seconds for Navy to tie things up at 13. Michael Ippolito scored his fourth goal of the day which was the game-winning goal with 4:17 left in the fourth quarter to secure the Panther win over the Midshipmen.
Up Next: The Panthers return to Vert Stadium on Tuesday as they host #7 Duke. The first face-off is set for 7 pm.