For immediate release – 3/22/2015 - #354
Explosive First Quarter Helps Hornets Defeat Dickinson

Coach Koudelka Post Game Audio Interview

OWINGS MILLS, MD – The #11 Lynchburg College men's lacrosse team had five different players score in the first period to help take down Dickinson College 14-9 on the second day of the Greene Turtle Classic.  After defeating the Red Dragons on Saturday, the Hornets defeated the Red Devils on Sunday in the matchup hosted by Stevenson University.

DC changed the scoreboard first as Connor Murphy scored off a pass from Mitchell Andres at 12:14.  But following the ten minute mark in the period, Lynchburg took control.  Aaron Murphy got the ball rolling, firing in a goal at 9:55. Evan Leeder caused a turnover after the faceoff which led to a successful clear.  Chris Cornelius kept up his impressive tournament, scoring at 8:55.  Austin Stewart followed suit, as he tallied his first of the evening a little less than a minute later.

The onslaught continued less than a minute later, as Todd Galvin scored following turnovers by each team.  Hunter Thompson caused the final one which helped start the quick clear, which lead to Luke Ernst feeding Galvin for the 4-1 lead.  While LC slowed down, the Hornets added one more with 1:23 to play.  This time Galvin hit Chris Hower for his second goal of the tourney.

Dickinson once again scored the opener of the quarter following a faceoff win.  Distler won the next battle at the 'X' and Colin McGuire kept his hot streak going, bringing LC back to four.  The Red Devils stopped the run at that, with Mike Allen getting his second of the season to put the Lynchburg advantage at 6-3.

However, as was the story with yesterday, when the Hornets were given man-advantages, they made their opponent pay.  McGuire hit Murphy for a goal with 2:12 remaining after a Dickinson penalty.  Then with 1:06 on the clock, same as three times from the day before, Cornelius found Stewart who then found the back of the net on the power play.  Stewart finished off his hat trick just before the half with Galvin getting the assist, with the halftime score being 9-3.

DC went on a run to start the third quarter, scoring three straight with two from Tyler White, but after the second White goal, Lynchburg responded quickly.  Cullan Ganley scooped up a groundball and passed it to Galvin who was waiting to score.  The Red Devils brought the score to 10-7, but the LC attack proved too much once again. 

After another Distler win, the Hornets ripped off three shots that missed the cage, but Lynchburg retained possession each time.  On the fourth shot, McGuire caught a pass from Galvin and was spot on.  Dickinson was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the goal, which awarded a penalty and the ball to Lynchburg.  As the story of the weekend has been, Stewart made them pay, with McGuire getting an assist on the play.

The fourth quarter saw the two teams exchange goals in the early going before the fireworks ended.  Murphy and Dane Angell added tallies in the quarter completing the 14-9 victory.

The defense was superb for the Hornets, forcing the Red Devils into committing 19 turnovers, with three of them being caused by Berk Ellis.  Chris Hawley stopped 10 shots during the game and Galvin picked up a career-high eight groundballs.  Distler also had an impressive afternoon, winning 14 of his attempts at the 'X'.  Nick Baxter made 12 stops for Dickinson (2-5 overall) in the loss.

LC (5-2, 2-0 ODAC) returns home for an important Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) matchup on Saturday.  The Hornets host rival Roanoke College (5-2, 2-0 ODAC).  This game has played a large part in the deciding of the top overall seed for the ODAC tournament in recent years, with the winner taking that spot.  Game time is set for 7 p.m.

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