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BOX SCORE

Men’s Lacrosse Celebrates Senior Day with Program’s First-Ever SSC Victory

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – The Embry-Riddle men’s lacrosse team couldn’t have scripted Senior Day any better than Saturday afternoon as the Eagles earned the program’s first-ever Sunshine State Conference win, 17-15 over visiting Saint Leo at the ERAU Lacrosse Field. The Eagles (4-10, 1-3 SSC) came out of the gates on fire, taking a 7-1 lead over Saint Leo (5-5, 0-3), but the Lions slowly clawed their way back into the game, eventually tying the game late, but the Blue and Gold responded, scoring three of the final four goals, including two from Joe Anderson, to emerge with the Senior Day victory.

It took the Eagles a little over three minutes to score the game’s first goal when Lars Hoeg got a pass from senior Connor Bullock and scored to give ERAU a 1-0 lead. The Lions answered after a few minutes to tie the game, but from the eight-minute mark to the two-minute mark, the Eagles dominated the game, scoring six straight before the Lions got the final score of the quarter, but by then, it was already 7-2.

Pete Abbes got the streak started, and then Christian Hofer scored in less than 20 seconds. Abbes added his second goal in as many shots, and then it was Bullock’s turn to find the net for a 5-1 lead. Coleman Jacobs put ERAU up 6-1 before Hoeg collected his second goal of the day, running the score to 7-1.

The Lions and Eagles alternated the first four goals of the second quarter, with Luke Squire and Trent McCauley each scoring their second goals of the season, but the visitors accounted for the final two scores of the half to trim the Eagle lead to 9-6 at the break.

Coming out of the half, Saint Leo took control of the game, scoring four goals and taking a 10-9 lead with a little over five minutes on the clock in the third quarter. But Marcus Needham’s goal at the 4:50 mark sparked ERAU’s own run, with two more goals coming from Jacobs, his 32nd and 33rd of the year, as ERAU retook a 12-10 lead.

Saint Leo got the final score of the quarter, but the Eagles owned a 12-11 advantage heading into the fourth.

The fourth quarter featured nine scores, the first by Hofer, putting the Blue and Gold up 13-11. After a Lion goal, Bullock grabbed his second score of the day, and fifth of the season to push the cushion back to a pair.

The visitors scored two quick goals at the 6:35 and 6:00 marks, both man-up, tying the game at 14-14. And that is when Joe Anderson gave the Eagles a huge lift, scoring the go-ahead goal with 4:34 left and grabbing the momentum back from Saint Leo. Following a big save from Lucas Fraser, Gage Poindexter gave the Eagles some breathing room with his 11th goal of the season, and Anderson provided the exclamation point with the 17th and final ERAU goal with just over a minute to play.

Saint Leo would score one final goal with just seconds remaining before the Eagles rushed the field to celebrate their first SSC victory in program history.

Mark Urso won 22-of-34 face offs for the Eagles, and Abbes, Jacobs, Bullock, and Anderson all finished with three points as the Eagles’ 17 goals were the most scored this season.

Before the game, eight Eagle seniors were honored for their contributions to the ERAU Men’s Lacrosse program: Jason Schlesinger, Gav Del Villar, Charlie Wilson, Luke Squire, Connor Bullock, Jacob Morin, Gabe Sauvageau, and Michael Forte.

The Eagles hit the road for a pair of SSC contests next week, beginning on Wednesday, April 13 at Florida Tech, and then Saturday, April 16 at Palm Beach Atlantic.

*****

Lions’ Comeback Falls Short at Embry-Riddle

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Saint Leo Men’s Lacrosse came up short on Saturday afternoon at Embry-Riddle, dropping the contest with the Eagles, 17-15. 

Embry-Riddle came out firing with 14 shots in the first quarter, holding a 7-2 lead after the opening frame. They outshot the Lions 14-3, holding possession for much of the first quarter. 

The second quarter was much friendlier to the Lions, outshooting the Eagles 13-9, and pulling to within three goals after Tyler Eames struck three times in the second quarter. Embry-Riddle took a 9-6 lead into halftime. 

The comeback was officially on when the Lions came out of the locker room and put four goals on the board in a row, with three of them coming from the stick of Guy Bistrow. Saint Leo quickly went up 10-9 on the Eagles. But that would be the last lead of the night for the green and gold. Saint Leo kept it to within three goals the rest of the way, but were unable to pull even with the Eagles. 

Tyler Eames led Saint Leo with five goals on the night, followed Guy Bistrow with four. Steve Lauter had a game-high seven saves in the net for the Lions.

The Lions fall to 5-5 on the season and 0-3 in the Sunshine State Conference before hosting Tampa on Wednesday night at University Turf Stadium.