SSC Men: ERAU 17-9 over PBA – Both Recaps
via the school’s press releases/websites
Men’s Lacrosse Closes 2023 Season with 17-9 Victory on Senior Day
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – The Embry-Riddle men’s lacrosse team sent its four senior out in style on Saturday afternoon with a 17-9 victory over Palm Beach Atlantic at the ERAU Lacrosse Field. The Eagles (5-9, 1-6 Sunshine State Conference) got a career game from Pete Abbes, saw Isaiah Hines break the program’s single-season goals record, and Ryan Manning break the single-game caused turnovers record in their win over the Sailfish (2-10, 0-5 SSC) while celebrating the careers of Sean Anderson, Lucas Fraser, Lars Hoeg, and Manning.
The visitors had no answer for Abbes on the day as the sophomore scored a career-high six goals in addition to two assists, while Hines recorded four goals, finishing the 2023 season with 43, a single-season record for an individual. Coleman Jacobs, who holds the spots two through four on the single-season scoring charts, scored four times with two assists, and in net, Carter Groezinger made 16 saves, earning his first career victory, before Fraser closed the contest out, making two saves of his own. Manning caused six turnovers on the day, the most in program history, while the Eagles as a team caused 16, also a program record.
It took a while for either team to find the back of the net, but it was PBA who struck first at the 9:12 mark of the first quarter, but Abbes got the first of his six tallies of the day a few minutes later to knot the game up at 1-1.
The Sailfish got the final goal of the period with less than five minutes to go, nearly adding to their tally with a flurry of shots late, but Groezinger was up to the task, making four saves in the closing minutes to keep the ERAU deficit at one goal.
The second quarter was all Blue and Gold as the home team out-scored PBA 5-1 in the period to take a 6-3 lead into the halftime break. Christian Hofer got the scoring started just 46 seconds into the period, and Jacobs added his first two goals over the next six minutes as the Eagles took the lead out to 4-2. Hines, off a great pass from Marcus Needham, scored his 40th goal of the year at the 3:47 mark, and just 59 seconds later, broke the single-season record thanks to another Needham assist.
The Sailfish got the final goal of the second, but ERAU still took a three-goal advantage into halftime.
Needham continued his hot streak with his third consecutive assist to begin the third quarter, finding Abbes for a 7-3 lead, and Hines registered his ninth hat trick of the season with an unassisted goal at the 9:47 mark of the period.
Jacobs found Abbes for a 9-3 lead around the seven-minute mark, and the Eagles and Sailfish traded scores for the next few minutes with ERAU’s coming from Gavin Madden and Hines, assisted by Lars Hoeg, and Jacobs. The Eagles enjoyed an 11-7 lead after 45 minutes.
Manning was a force in the second half, particularly the fourth quarter, forcing turnover after turnover in his final game in an ERAU uniform, most of the turnovers coming soon after the Sailfish had won a face-off.
Abbes got his fourth and fifth goals of the day to make the score 13-8 in favor of the hosts, and Abbes was able to find Jacobs for a score at the 6:31 mark, and Todd Giol found Jacobs a few minutes later to make it 15-8.
Madden scored his second goal of the game to double-up the Sailfish 16-8, and after PBA got a goal back, Manning won the ensuing face-off, weaving past several PBA defenders before finding Abbes for the punctuation mark of the contest, Abbes’ sixth score of the day to account for the 17-9 final.
Embry-Riddle finished with 12 assists, tying a program record, while its 17 goals were the third-most in team history.
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Sailfish Defeated By Eagles
by Nick Sheehy, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Palm Beach Atlantic men’s lacrosse team dropped its road finale to Embry-Riddle 17-9. PBA fell to 3-1 all-time versus the Eagles. PBA freshman Cooper Porter led the ‘Fish with two goals. Blake Rowse, Caleb Southard, and Sarver Adams displayed a balanced attack with one goal and one assist each. Dylan Hunt caused a team-high two turnovers. Ben Lightsey started in net and made 14 saves for the second consecutive game.
PBA won the faceoff battle 21-8 as Noah McKoeun went 20/28 at the faceoff x and scored a goal. Additionally, the Sailfish picked up four more ground balls than the Eagles.
The Sailfish struck first early into the first quarter. At the 9:12 mark, Porter ran towards the right side of the net and ripped an overhand shot for PBA’s first goal. The Eagles answered back and tied the game at 6:38. Rowse received a pass inside and found the back of the net for his sixth goal of the year. PBA led ERAU 2-1 after the first quarter. Embry-Riddle responded back and went on a 5-0 run in the second quarter. Porter ended the drought with 26 seconds left in the first half. Bryce Downs connected with Porter on the perimeter. Porter launched a shot from the outside for his 10th goal of the season. ERAU led 6-3 at halftime.
The Eagles took five more shots than the Sailfish and committed 12 less turnovers. ERAU outscored PBA 11 to six in the second half.
The ‘Fish executed a fast break when Rowse connected with Logan Robbins at 5:28 in the third quarter. Robbins ripped a shot in transition for his second goal of the season. Joshua Turner scored his fifth goal of the year with 3:27 left in the third. With 1:24 left in the third quarter PBA went on a 3-0 run. Adams assisted Southard near the net. Adams passed for his second assist of the year and Southard scored his 12th goal for the ‘Fish. The Sailfish tacked on another goal eight seconds later. When the faceoff ensued, McKoeun gained possession and found the back of the net for his second goal of the year.
PBA scored two goals in the fourth quarter. With 13:42 left in the game, Southard assisted Henry Sloyan. Sloyan notched his 80th career goal for PBA. The North Carolina native leads the ‘Fish in goals with 19 this season, while Southard has distributed a team-high 13 assists this season. With 1:35 left in the game Adams scored the final goal for PBA. The PBA freshman has scored 11 goals this season.
Next, the Sailfish will conclude the regular season with two games against ranked SSC opponents. PBA hosts No. 6 Rollins on Wednesday, Apr. 19, and No. 16 Florida Southern on Saturday Apr. 22.
